reading midnight alley
by loulouflowerpower
Summary: reading the 3 book
1. Chapter 1

The next morning after, breakfast, they all sat down in the living room and got ready for Claire to read the next book.

"What's this one called?" Eve asked Claire.

"It's called midnight alley" Claire read the cover.

"This book had better have me in it" myrnin said.

"I think your wish is about to come true" Claire said. "I did meet you just after I signed".

"Just read" Oliver snapped.

Claire picked up the book and read.

**Parents had some kind of sin radar, Claire thought. They always called when you were in the middle of something you just knew they'd consider wrong. Or at least risky.**

****"Do we really want to know?" mum sighed.

"I don't think you have a choices" Claire said, blushing.

**Claire Danvers slid off of her boyfriend Shane's lap with a regretful sigh,**

Mum and dad frowned, as Claire blushed.

**Licked her damp, tingling lips, and went to answer the ringing phone in the kitchen. **

"Three guess on what Claire and Shane was doing" Eve joked.

**Michael was just getting up from the table to grab it, but Claire waved him off. She just knew it would be her mother.**

"Claire" dad said. "Don't be rude to your mother".

"Sorry mum, dad" Claire sighed.****

She was right.

"Claire! Oh my goodness, I've been worried sick, honey. We've been trying to call you on your cell for days, and - "

"I forgot about my phone" Claire said. "I'm really bad with them".

"What was the longest you had a phone in Morganville?" Michael asked.

"About a mouth or three weeks" Claire said. ****

Crap. Claire rubbed her forehead in frustration. 

"I do that a lot" Claire sighed.

"Most of Morganville do the same" eve shrugged.

**"Mom, I wrote you guys an email, remember? My cell got lost; I'm still working on getting another one." Best not to mention how it had gotten lost.**

Mom and dad frowned.

**Best not to mention anything about how dangerous her life had gotten since she'd moved to Morganville, Texas.**

Mom and dad sighed.

"Mom dad" Claire said. "I told you why I have to stay and why I want to stay".

"So you can learn" dad nodded. "I just wish we had never sent you here".

"But then all of the vampires would still be sick" Claire said.

"And that's bad, how?" Shane asked.

"You just don't get it" Claire sighed, sadly.****

"Oh," Mom said, and then, more slowly, "oh. Well, your father forgot to tell me about that. You know, he's the one who checks the email. I don't like computers."

"Yes, Mom, I know." Mom really wasn't that bad, but she was notoriously nervous with computers, and for good reason; they had a tendency to short out around her.

Mom blushed.****

Mom was still talking. "Is everything going all right? How are classes? Interesting?"

"Way to easy" Claire said. "Even now day's".

"That is why you work for me" Myrnin said.

"Don't know about work" Claire said. "More like talk and clean the lab".

"Not all the time" Myrnin smiled.

Shane was frowning at them.****

Claire opened the refrigerator door and retrieved a red can of Coke,

"Speaking of coke" eve said. "Who wants a can?"

"It's only eight thirty" Claire said, looking at her watch.

"I'll have one" Shane said.

Eve walked off and then came back with two cans of coke.

"I love coke" Shane said, as he drank.

**Which she popped open and chugged to give herself time to think what, if anything to tell her parents**_**. Mom, there was a little trouble. See, my boyfriend's dad came to town with some bikers and killed people, and nearly killed us too. Oh, and the vampires are angry about it. And so to save my friends, I had to sign a contract, so now I'm basically the slave of the most bad-ass vampire in town.**_

"what parents would not be happy for their kid to tell them that?" Shane joked._**  
**_**  
Yeah, that wouldn't go over well.**

Besides, even if she said it, Mom wouldn't understand it. Mom had been to Morganville, but she hadn't really seen. People didn't. And if they did, they either never left town, or had their memories wiped on the way out.

"They get their memories wiped any way" Claire said.

"How do you know all of this?" mom asked.

"Working with Myrnin" Claire shrugged.****

And if by some chance they started to remember, bad things could happen to them. Terminally bad things.

Shane looked down.****

So instead, Claire said, "Classes are great, Mom. I aced all my exams last week."

"Don't you always?" eve rolled her eyes.

"Yes" Claire said. "But this was different".****

"Of course you did. Don't you always?"

Yeah, but last week I had to take my exams while worrying if somebody was going to stick a knife in my back.

"No one would do that" Michael said.

"I don't know" Claire sighed. "Ada would have tried".

**It could have had an effect on my GPA. Stupid to be proud of that ... "Everything's fine here. I'll let you know when I get the new cell phone, okay?" Claire hesitated, then asked, "How are you? How's Dad?"**

"Old" dad smiled.

"You're not as old as some of the people in this room" Claire said.

"And I bet they feel tired" dad said.

No one answer.

**"Oh, we're fine, honey. We miss you is all. But your father's still not happy about you living in that place, off campus, with those older kids - "**

Mom and dad nodded.

"Still to this day we don't like it" dad said.

Claire rolled her eyes.****

Of all the things for Mom to remember, she had to remember that. And of course Claire couldn't tell her why she was living off campus with eighteen-year-olds, especially when two of them were boys.

"And a vampire" Shane said.

"Really funny" Michael rolled his eyes.

"Thought so" Shane joked.

**Mom hadn't gotten around to mentioning the boys yet, but it was just a matter of time.**

"Mom, I told you how mean the girls were to me in the dorm. It's better here, really. They're my friends. And really, they're great."

"We think you're great to" eve smiled.****

Mom didn't sound too convinced. "You're being careful, though. About those boys."

Well, that hadn't taken long. "Yes, I'm being careful about the boys." She was even being careful about Shane, though that was mostly because Shane never forgot that Claire was not-quite-seventeen, and he was not-quite-nineteen. Not a huge age difference, but legally? Huger than huge, if her parents got upset about it. Which they definitely would. 

"You mean more upset" dad said.

Claire sighed.

**"Everybody here says hello, by the way. Ah, Michael's waving."**

"I bet he wasn't" Shane said.****

Michael Glass, the second boy in the house, had settled down at the kitchen table and was reading a newspaper, looked up and gave her a wide-eyed no-you-don't shake of his head. 

"He's so hot when he does that" eve smiled, making Michael blush as mach a vampire can.

"Thanks Eve" Michael mumbled.

**He'd had a bad enough time of it with her parents the last time, and now ... well, things were even worse, if that was possible. At least when he'd met them, Michael had been half-normal: fully human by night, an incorporeal ghost by day, and trapped in the house twenty-four/seven.**

"That is normal around here" Shane shrugged.****

For Morganville, that was half-normal.

Shane looked surprised.****

In order to help get Shane out of trouble, Michael had made a terrible choice - he'd gained his freedom from the house, and gotten physical form all the time, but now he was a vampire. Claire couldn't tell if it bothered him. It had to, right? But he seemed so ... normal.

"It only bothered me that Shane was going on about it" Michael said, before saying. "And drinking the blood".

"Sorry man" Shane sighed. "But it still bothers me".

Claire sighed before reading.****

Maybe a little too normal.

Claire listened to her mother's voice, and then held out the phone to Michael. "She wants to talk to you," she said.

"No! I'm not here!" He stage-whispered and made waving-off motions. Claire wiggled the phone insistently.

"You can be a bossy little thing" Myrnin said.

"Um, thanks" Claire said, before reading. ****

"You're the responsible one," she reminded him. "Just try not to talk about the - " She mimed fangs in the neck.

"Like he would" Eve rolled her eyes.

Claire blushed.****

Michael shot her a dirty look, took the phone, and turned on the charm. He had a lot of it, Claire knew; it wasn't just parents who liked him, it was ... well, everybody. 

"Not me" Oliver said.

Claire read over him.

**Michael was smart, cute, hot, talented, respectful ... nothing not to love, except the whole undead aspect.**

"I don't know about that last part" Eve smiled.

"will you two get a room?" Shane said.

"Paying for one" Eve smirked.

Claire read before they got into a fight.

**He assured her mother that everything was fine, that Claire was behaving herself - his eyeroll made Claire snort cola up her nose -and that he was watching out for Mrs. Danvers's little girl. That last part was true, at least. Michael was taking his self-appointed older brother duties way too seriously.**

"I'm happy to hear that" mom smiled, at Michael.

**He hardly let Claire out of his sight, except when privacy was required or Claire slipped off to class without an escort - which was as often as possible.**

"I was not going to miss class" Claire said. "How many times we talked about it".**  
**

**"Yes ma'am," Michael said. He was starting to look a little strained. "No ma'am. I won't let her do that. Yes. Yes."**

Shane laughed at that.

**Claire had pity on him, and reclaimed the phone. "Mom, we've got to go. I love you both."**

"It was getting sad to watch" Claire shrugged.

"And funny?" Eve asked.

"More sad then funny" Claire said.

**Mom still sounded anxious. "Claire, are you sure you don't want to come home? Maybe I was wrong about letting you go to MIT early. You could take the year off, study, and we'd love to have you back home again ..."**

"I still think that was wired" Claire sighed, before looking at Myrnin. "Do you think it was bishop?"

"Most likely" Myrnin nodded.****

Weird. Usually she calmed right down, especially when Michael talked to her. Claire had a bad flash of Shane telling her about his own mother, how her memories of Morganville had started to surface. How the vampires had come after her to kill her because the conditioning didn't stick.

"I don't think that's happening" Shane said. "Mom was not like that".

"Don't really need to worry about that" Claire said.****

Her parents were in the same boat now. They'd been to town, but she still wasn't sure just how much they really knew or understood about that visit - it could be enough to put them in mortal danger.

"We only knew the basics " dad said.

**She had to do everything she could to keep them safe. That meant not following her dreams to MIT, because if she left Morganville -assuming she could even get out of town at all - the vampires would follow her, and they'd either bring her back or kill her. And the rest of her family, too.**

"We would not have killed you" Amelie said. "We needed you too much".

"That's a relief" Eve rolled her eyes.

"Eve, don't go there" Claire said, as Michael nodded.****

Besides, Claire had to stay now, because she'd signed a contract pledging herself directly to Amelie, the town's Founder. The biggest, scariest vampire of them all, even if she rarely showed that side. At the time, she'd been Claire's only real hope to keep herself and her friends alive.

So far signing the contract hadn't meant a whole lot - no announcements in the local paper, Amelie hadn't shown up to collect on her soul or anything. So maybe it would just pass by ... quietly.

"I wish" Claire sighed. "It would have been so much easier".

**Mom was still talking about MIT, and Claire didn't want to think about it. She'd dreamed of going to a school like MIT or CalTech her whole life, and she'd been smart enough to do it. She'd even gotten early acceptance.**

"You never told me that" Shane said. "You never told me that you could have gone to MIT when you first went to college".

"I thought I had" Claire said, surprised.

"Nope" Shane frowned.

"Sorry" Claire said.

**It was drastically unfair that she was stuck in Morganville now, like a fly in a spider's web, and for a few seconds she let herself feel bitter and angry about that.**

"I don't feel bitter about it anymore" Claire said.

"Luck you' Shane mutated.****

Nice, the brutally honest part of her mocked. You'd sacrifice Shane's life for what you want, because you know that's what would happen. Eventually, the vampires would find an excuse to kill him. You're not any better than the vampires if you don't do everything you can to prevent that.

"Your being too hard on you self" mom said. "Just like when you were a kid".****

The bitterness left, but regret wasn't following any time soon. She hoped Shane never knew how she felt about it, deep down.

"To late for that" Eve said.

"Sorry Shane" Claire said.

"It's ok" Shane sighed. "I would have been the same".****

"Mom, sorry, I've got to go, I have class. I love you - tell Dad I love him too, will you?"

Claire hung up on her mother's protests, heaved a sigh, and looked at Michael. Who was looking a little sympathetic.

"It's not easy to talk to your parents" Michael said. "I know".****

"That's not easy, talking to the folks," he offered. "Sorry."

"Don't you ever talk to your parents?" Claire asked, and slid into the chair at the small breakfast table across from him. 

"We should get a new table" Michael said. "The one we have is too small".

"And anther bathroom" Claire said. "Eve takes too long".

"You try to put my makeup on in five minutes" Eve said.

**Michael had a cup of something; she was afraid it was blood for a second, but then she smelled coffee. Hazelnut.**

"That's a good blend" dad said.

"Dad loves his coffee" Claire said.

"Anther family trait" Myrnin said. "Loving coffee".

"That still creeps me out" Eve said. "To think that Oliver and Ada are in your family".

**Vampires could, and did, enjoy food; it just didn't sustain them.**

"They taste good" Myrnin said.****

Michael looked suspiciously good this morning - a little colour in his face, an energy to his movements that hadn't been there last night.

He'd had more than coffee this morning.

"You see too much" Michael said.

"And you only just worked that out?" Claire said.****

"Yeah, I call my folks sometimes," Michael said. He folded the newspaper - the local rag, run by vampires - and picked up a smaller, rolled bundle of letter-sized pages secured by a rubber band. "They're Morganville exiles, so they have a lot to forget. It's better if I don't keep in contact too much, it could make trouble. I mostly write. The mail and email gets read before it goes on, you know that, right? And most of the phone calls get monitored, especially long distance."

"If you think about it" Eve said. "It's creepy".

"Everything in Morganville is creepy" Shane rolled his eyes.****

He stripped off the rubber band and unfolded the cheap pages of the second newspaper. Claire read the masthead upside down: The Fang Report. The logo was two stakes at right angles making up a cross. Wild.

"What's that?"

"I was just thinking that" dad said.

"You will find out" Claire sighed.****

"This?" Michael rattled the paper and shrugged. "Captain Obvious."

"And he would be?" dad asked.

"A criminal" Oliver said.

"The vampires don't like him" Claire sighed. "And I'm not a fan of him myself".****

"What?"

"Captain Obvious. That's his handle. He's been doing these papers every week for about two years now. It's an underground thing."

"He cannot hide forever" Oliver said.

"Shut up Oliver" Myrnin said.

"Will you two just stop talking to each other?" Claire sighed. "So I can get on with the book?"****

Underground in Morganville had a lot of meanings. Claire raised her eyebrows. "So ... Captain Obvious is a vampire?"

"No way" Eve said.

"We know Eve" Michael said.****

"Not unless he's got a serious self-image problem," Michael said. "Captain Obvious hates vampires. If somebody steps out of line, he documents it - " Michael froze, reading the headline, and his mouth opened, then closed. His face set like stone, and his blue eyes looked stricken.

"That was the day that everyone found out about you" Eve said.

"Sadly" Michael sighed.****

Claire reached over and took the newspaper from his hands, turned it, and read.

**NEW BLOODSUCKER IN TOWN**

"That's not good, is it?" mom said.

"Very bad" Michael nodded.****

_**Michael Glass, once a rising musical star with too much talent for this twisted town, has fallen to the Dark Side. Details are sketchy, but Glass, who's been keeping to himself for the past year, has definitely joined the Fang Gang.**_

"The fang gang?" mom asked.

"It means that Michael has become a vampire" Claire said.

_**Nobody knows how or where it happened, and I doubt Glass will be talking, but we should all be worried: does this mean more vamps, fewer humans? After all, he is the first newly risen undead in generations.**_

"Humans are so easy to scare" Oliver smirked.

"You would know all about that" Shane rolled his eyes._****_

Beware, boys and girls: Glass may look like an angel, but he's got a demon inside now. Memorize the face, kibbles. He's the newest addition to the Better Off Dead club!  
**  
"The Better Off Dead club?" Claire repeated aloud, horrified. "He's kidding, right?" There was Michael's picture, probably right out of the Morganville High yearbook, inset as a graphic into a tombstone.**

"Worst hair cut ever" Eve said.

"Sorry Michael" Shane said. "I'm with your Eve".

"It really was bad" Michael said. "But mom made me do it".****

With crudely drawn-in fangs.

"That's just mean" mom frowned.****

"Captain Obvious never comes out and tells anyone to kill," Michael said. "He's pretty careful about how he phrases things." Her friend was angry, Claire saw. And scared. "He's got our address listed. And all your names, too, though he at least he points out none of you are really vampires.

"He could of" Claire said. "And my life would have been harder".

"People believe anything" Michael said.

**Jesus. That's not good." Michael was getting past the shock of seeing himself outed in the paper, and was getting worried. Claire was already there.**

"My life is just one big worry" Claire sighed.

"Not as bad anymore" Shane said.****

"Well ... why don't the vampires do something about him? Stop him?"

"They've tried everything" Eve said.****

"They've tried. They've arrested three people in the last two years and said they were Captain Obvious. Turned out they didn't know anything. The Captain could teach the CIA a thing or two about running a secret operation."

"So he's not that obvious," Claire said.

"It's a stupid name" Myrnin said.

"And your name is so much better" Oliver rolled his eyes.

Claire read before they could start fighting.****

"I think he means it in the ironic sense." Michael swallowed a quick gulp of coffee. "Claire, I don't like this. Not like we didn't have enough trouble without this kind of - "

Eve slammed in the kitchen door, which hit the wall with a thunderous boom, startling both of them.

"You would think Michael would have heard her" Shane said.

"What does that mean?" Eve asked.

Shane didn't answer.

**She clomped across the kitchen floor, and leaned on the breakfast table. She wasn't very Goth today; her hair was still matte-block, but it was worn back in a simple ponytail, and the plain knit shirt and black pants didn't have a skull anywhere in view. No makeup, either. She almost looked ... normal. Which was so wrong.**

"It's nice to know you care" Eve smiled at Claire.****

"All right," she said, and slapped down a second copy of The Fang Report in front of Michael. "Please tell me you have a snappy comeback for this."

"This had better be good" Shane said.****

"I'll make sure the three of you are safe."

"I don't think that was what she was looking for" dad said.

"And dad would know" Claire said.****

"Oh, so not what I was looking for! Look, I'm not worried about us! We're not the ones Photoshopped into tombstones!" Eve looked at the picture again. "Although yes, better dead than that hairdo ... God, was that your prom photo?"

"What is with my hair" Michael asked.

"Nothing now but back then it was bad" Eve said.****

Michael grabbed the paper back and put it face down on the table. "Eve, nothing is going to happen. Captain Obvious just loves to talk. Nobody's going to come after me."

"Want a bet?" Shane said.

"No Shane I don't" Michael sighed.****

"Right," a new voice said. It was Shane. He'd come in behind Eve, clearly wanting to watch the fireworks, and now he leaned against the wall next to the stove and crossed his arms. "By all means, let's keep on shoveling the bull," he said. "It's trouble, and you know it." Claire waited for him to come over to the table and join the three of them, the way things used to be.

"Somehow I don't think that is going to happen" mom said.****

He didn't. He crossed his arms. Shane hadn't willingly stayed long in the same room with Michael since ... the change. And he wouldn't look at him, except in angles and side glances. He'd also taken to wearing one of Eve's silver crosses, although just now it was hidden beneath the neck of the gray t-shirt he was wearing. Claire found her eyes fixing on the just-visible outline of it.

Half the room frowned at him.

"Can you blame me?" Shane asked.

Half the room looked back at the book.

"Shane you really need to try and get over it" Claire sighed, before reading.****

Eve ignored Shane; her big, dark eyes were fixed on Michael. "You know they'll all be gunning for you now, right? All the would-be Buffys?" Claire had seen Buffy the Vampire Slayer, but she had no idea how Eve had managed; it was contraband in Morganville, along with every other movie or book featuring vampires

"That was a good show" mom and Claire said.

"But they got half of it wrong" Claire said. "Know wounder I thought that a vampire was so different".

"I liked spike" mom smiled. "He was so in love with Buffy".

"Spike?" Myrnin asked.

"He was a vampire that fall in love with Buffy who she hated" Claire said. "In the end spike died and Buffy told him she loved him but he didn't believe her".

"It was so sad" mom said.

**. Or vampire-killing, more to the point. Internet downloads were strictly controlled, too, though no doubt there was a hot black market in those kinds of things that Eve was tapped into.**

"I don't know what you're talking about" Eve said.

"I bet you don't" Shane rolled his eyes.****

"Like you?" Michael said. He still hadn't forgotten the arsenal of stakes and crosses that Eve kept hidden in her room. In the old days, that had seemed like good sense, living in Morganville. Now, it seemed like a recipe for domestic violence.

"She has a good point there" Eve nodded.****

Eve looked stricken. "I'd never - "

"I don't think any of us could" Claire said. "I don't think I can kill anther vampire after the last one.

"Claire" Shane said.

"No Shane" Claire said. "She might never of wanted to be a vampire or she could of wished she had of died".

"I don't believe that" Shane said.

"I'm sorry but I do" Claire sighed.****

"I know." He took her hand gently in his. "I know."

She softened, but then she shook it off and went back to frowning at him. "Look, this is dangerous. They know you're an easier target than those other guys, and they're going to hate you even worse, because you're one of us. Our age."

"They were always going to hate me" Michael shrugged.****

"Maybe," Michael said. "Eve, come on, sit. Sit down."

She did, but it was more like a collapse, and she didn't stop jittering her heel up and down in agitation, or drumming her black-painted fingernails on the table. "This is bad," she said. "You know that, right? Nine point five on the ten point scale of make-me-yak."

"You could say that again" Claire sighed.****

"Compared to what?" Shane asked. "We're already living with the enemy. What does that score? Not to mention you probably get extra points for banging him - "

"Michael's not going to like that" Myrnin said.

"You could say that" Claire nodded.****

Michael stood up so fast his chair tipped and hit the floor with a clatter. Shane straightened up, ready for trouble, fists clenched.

"Shut up, Shane," Michael said, deathly quiet. "I mean it."

Shane stared past him at Eve. "He's going to bite you. He can't help it, and once he starts, he won't stop, he'll kill you. But you know that, right? What is that, some freak-ass Goth idea of romantic suicide? You turning into a fang-banger?"

Half the room glared at Shane.

"That was to fare" Claire said.

"I know" Shane nodded. "And I'm sorry about it".****

"Butt out, Shane. What you know about Goth culture, you got from old episodes of The Munsters and your Aryan Brotherhood dad." Great, now Eve was angry, too. That left Claire the only sane one in the room.

"I don't know" Eve said. "Sometimes I think you losing it".

Claire rolled her eyes, and read.****

Michael made an effort to dial it back. "Come on, Shane. Leave her alone. You're the one hurting her, not me."

"He has a point" Myrnin nodded.

Shane frowned at myrnin.

"Shane stop looking at Myrnin like that" Claire said.

"Like what?" Shane asked, still looking at Myrnin.

"Like you wish you could kill him right here and right now" Claire sighed. "And don't say you do".

Shane looked down.****

Shane's gaze snapped to Michael and focused. Hard. "I don't hurt girls. You say I do, and you'd better back it up, asshole."

"Temper, temper" Eve said.

"I don't think that would have helped" Claire said.****

Shane pushed away from the wall, because Michael was taking steps in his direction. Claire watched, wide-eyed and frozen.

Eve got between them, hands outstretched to hold both of them back. "Come on, guys, you don't want to do this."

"I think they do" mom said.****

"Kinda do," Shane said coolly.

Mom and dad frowned.****

"Fine. Either hit each other or get a room," she snapped, and stepped out of the middle. "Just don't pretend it's all about protecting the itty widdle girl, because it isn't. It's about the two of you. So get it together, or leave, I don't care which."

Shane stared at her for a second, eyes gone wide and oddly hurt, then looked at Claire. She didn't move.

"I was in a bad way back then" Shane said.

"What do you mean back then?" Michael asked. "You still are".

"Thanks" Shane rolled his eyes.****

"I'm out," he said. He turned and walked out through the kitchen door. It swung shut behind him.

Eve let out a little gasp. "I didn't think he'd go," she said, so unsteadily that for a second Claire thought she was going to cry. "What a freaking idiot."

"I love you to" Shane joked.

"Shut up" Eve said.****

Claire reached over and took her hand. Eve squeezed, hard, and then leaned back into Michael's embrace. Vampire or not, the two of them seemed happy, and anyway, this was Michael. She just couldn't understand Shane's anger. It seemed to bubble up when she least expected it, for no reason at all.

"I don't know about no reason at all" Eve sighed.****

"I'd better - " she ventured. Michael nodded.

Claire slipped out of her chair and went to find Shane. Not like it was difficult; he was slumped on the couch, staring at the Playstation screen and working the controls on yet another zombie-killing adventure. "You taking his side?" Shane asked, and splattered the head of an attacking undead monster.

"No," Claire said, and settled in carefully next to him, with enough open space between so he didn't feel pressured. "Why are there sides, anyway?"

"There will always be sides" Oliver said.

"And I'm stuck in the middle of them both" Claire sighed. "The humans and the vampires".

"Sadly" Shane said.****

"What?"

"Michael's your friend, he's our housemate. Why do there have to be sides?"

"I still think that" Claire nodded.****

He snapped his fingers. "Um, wait, I've got this one ... because he's a bloodsucking, night-crawling leech who used to be my friend?"

Eve and the vampires glared at Shane.

"Don't say anything" Claire said.****

"Shane - "

"You think you know, but you don't. He's going to change. They all change. Maybe it'll take time, I don't know. Right now, he thinks he's just human plus, but that's not what it is. He's human minus. And you'd better not forget it."

"That just made me think of how a vampire looks at a human" Claire said.

"How?" Shane asked surprised.

"Vampires think that humans are nothing but food" Claire said. "You think that vampires are nothing but killers".

"But they are" Shane said.

"I give up trying to get you to see from my point of view" Claire sighed.****

She stared at him, a little bit stunned and a whole lot saddened. "Eve's right. That sounds like your father talking."

"That was what I was just thinking" Michael nodded.****

Shane flinched, paused the game, and threw the controller down. "Low, Claire." He wasn't exactly his dad's biggest fan at the best of times - he couldn't be, the number of cruel things his dad had done to him.

"No, it's just true. Look, it's Michael. Can't you give him the benefit of the doubt? He hasn't hurt anybody, has he? And you have to admit, having a vampire on our side, really on our side, couldn't hurt. Not in Morganville."

"Claire has a good point" Myrnin nodded.

"Thanks Myrnin" Claire smiled at him, making Shane frowned at them.****

He just glared at the screen, jaw set like stone. Claire was trying to think of another way to get through to him, but she was derailed by the ringing of the doorbell. Shane didn't move. "I'll get it," she sighed, and went down the hall to open the front door. It was safe enough - mid-morning, sunny, and relatively mild. Summer was finally starting a slide toward fall, now that it had burned all the green out of the Texas landscape.

"I don't get it" Claire said. "If vampires hate the sun, then why do you live out here?"

"We hope that you never have to know that" Myrnin said.****

Claire squinted against the brilliance. For a second she thought that there was something deeply wrong with her eyes.

"We should get them checked out" mom said.

"There's nothing wrong with my eyes" Claire said. "I just thought there was".****

Because her arch-enemy and Queen Bitch Monica Morrell flanked by her ever-present harpies Gina and Jennifer, were standing on the doorstep.

"I thought I was your enemy" Oliver said.

"You're still on top" Claire shrugged.

**It was like seeing Barbie and her friends, blown up life size and dressed like Old Navy mannequins. Tanned, toned and perfect, from lip gloss to toenail polish. Monica had forced on a determinedly pleasant expression. Gina and Jennifer were also trying, but looked more like they were smelling something rotten.**

"I love it when they look like that" Eve smiled.****

"Hi!" Monica said brightly. "Got plans today, Claire? I was thinking we could hang."

That's it, Claire thought. I'm dreaming. Only this is a nightmare, right? Monica pretending to be my friend? Definitely a nightmare.

"I wish it was a nightmare" Claire said. "It was freaky".

**"I - what do you want?" Because Claire's relationship with Monica, Gina and Jennifer had started with being pushed down stairs at the dorm, and hadn't improved since. She was a crawling bug, to the Cool Girls. At best. Or ... a tool. Was this about Michael? Because his status had changed from "hermit musician" to "hottie vampire" in one night, and Monica was definitely a fang-banger, right? "You want to talk to Michael?"**

"Monica will go for anything that can get her what she wants" Eve said.

"Like me" Claire sighed.****

Monica gave her an odd look. "Why would I want to do that? Can he go shopping in broad daylight?"

"And I'm very happy for that" Michael said. "Talk about worst nightmare".****

"Oh." She had no idea what else to say to that.

"I thought a little retail therapy, and then we can all go study," Monica said. "We're going to check out that new place, not Common Grounds. Common Grounds is so last century. Like I want to be under Oliver's thumb all the time. Now that he's taken over as Protector for our family, he's been all hands-on, wanting to see my grades. Sucks, right?"

"I see what she's trying to do" dad said.

"She's not very good at hiding it" Claire said.****

"I - "

"C'mon, save my life. I really need help with Economics, and these two are boneheads." Monica dismissed her two closest friends with an offhand wave. "Seriously. Come with us. Please? I could really use your brainpower. And I think we should get to know each other a little better, don't you? Seeing as how things have changed?"

"Big change for me" Claire sighed. "But I am happier I did sign. I know so much more then I did and would have".

Shane frowned.

**Claire opened her mouth, then closed it without saying anything. The last two times she'd gone anywhere with Monica, she'd been flat on her back on the floor of a van, getting beaten and terrorized.**

"Don't remind us" dad sighed, and mum nodded. ****

She managed to stammer, "I know this is going to sound rude, but -what the hell are you doing?"

"Who cares about being rude to her?" Shane said.

"Don't go there" Claire sighed. ****

Monica sighed and looked - how weird was this? - contrite. "I know what you're thinking. Yes, I was a bitch to you, and I hurt you. And I'm sorry." Gina and Jennifer, her constant Greek chorus, nodded and repeated sorry in whispers. "Water under the bridge, all right? All is forgiven?"

"Never happened' Eve rolled her eyes.****

Claire was, if anything, even more mystified. "Why are you doing this?"

Monica pursed her glossy lips, leaned forward, and dropped her voice to a low, confidential tone. "Well ... all right, yeah, it's not like I had a head injury or something and woke up thinking you were cool. But you're different now. I can help. I can introduce you around to all the people you really need to know."

"She really is full of herself" mom said.

"That's Monica for you" Claire said.****

"You're kidding. I'm different how?"

Monica leaned even closer. "You signed."

"Big deal" Eve rolled her eyes.****

So ... this wasn't about Michael. Claire had just become ... popular. Because she'd become Amelie's property.

And that was terrifying.

"It really is" Claire nodded.

"It would be honey" mom said.****

"Oh," she managed, and then, more slowly, "Oh."

"Trust me," Monica said. "You need somebody in the know. Somebody to show you the ropes."

"Only if you let me hang you with them" Shane said.

"Don't go there" Michael said.****

If the only other person left on the planet was Jack the Ripper, Claire would have trusted him first.

"I Met him" Myrnin said. "I didn't like him".

"You met Jake the ripper?" Eve said.

"Yes" Myrnin nodded. "He tried to kill me".

"so you killed him?" Michael asked.

"Only a little" Myrnin said.

**"Sorry," she said. "I have plans. But - thank you. Maybe some other time."**

She shut the door on Monica's surprised face, then locked it. She jumped when she turned to find Shane standing right behind her, staring at her like he'd never seen her before.

"This is not going to go wall" Eve said.****

"Thank you?" he mimicked. "You're thanking that bitch? For what, Claire? For beating you? For trying to kill you? For killing my sister? Christ. First Michael, then you. I don't know any of you anymore."

"What are you?" Oliver snapped. "Five, get over it".****

In true Shane fashion, he just took off. She listened to the heavy tread of his footsteps cross the living room and travel up the stairs. Heard the familiar slam of his door.

"Hey!" she shouted after him. "I was just being polite!"

"Wow that chapter was not the best for me" Shane said.

"Shane you could try to understand more" Claire said.

"I understand" Shane said.

"You really don't" Michael said.

"Look let's just read the next chapter" mom said.

"Ok" Claire said. "Who wants to read?"

"I will" Eve said, taking the book and reading.

"**Chapter 2" **Eve read.

_**Ok so that was the first chapter of midnight alley. I hope you liked it. This is my birthday gift to everyone that has read or added my last two stories. Next chapter should be up soon, please review :)**_


	2. Chapter 2

****"You really need to try to see things from Claire's point" Michael said.

"Why?" Shane asked.

"Because it will help you get over living in a town with vampires" Eve said.

"I will never get over that" Shane said.

"Who wants to read?" Claire asked.

"I will" Eve said, still looking at Shane.

"**Chapter 2" **Eve read.

**"So," Eve asked as she drove Claire to school, "what was up with the Monica thing? I mean, maybe you ought to watch your back with her. Even more than you already do."**

"I speed half my time doing that" Claire sighed.

"The school should do something about that girl" mum frowned.

"Not likely" Shane said.****

"She sounded like she really kind of meant it. It took a lot for her to come eat crow like that."

Eve shot her a look. One of those looks, doubly effective coming from a girl wearing rice-powder makeup and flawless eye liner and black cherry lips.

"You make me sound scary" Eve said.

"It's only the makeup and clothes" Claire said. "But everyone knows that you just like a big Goth teddy bear".

"I think I will take that as a complement" Eve smiled.

**"In Monica's world, being friends means doing whatever Monica wants, when Monica wants to do it. Somehow, I can't see you as one of her brain-dead backup singers."**

"I should hope not" dad said.

"Don't worry" Claire sighed. "I would sooner give up on reading then do that". ****

"No! That's not - I didn't say I was going to be her friend, just - you asked." Claire crossed her arms and settled back in the bucket seat of Eve's ancient black Caddy, shooting for a stubborn look. 

"Most of the time you can look stubborn" Eve said. "But I'm sorry to say that was not one of your times".

"I thought as much" Claire sighed.

**"She's not my friend, okay? You're my friend."**

"You really need some better friend's" Shane joked.

Eve flipped him off.

"I'll keep that in mind" Claire joked.****

"So when Monica starts bringing the in-crowd to hang at your study table, you'll get up and leave? No way. You're too nice.

"She has a point" mum nodded.

"what do you mean?" Claire asked, surprised.

"Even at high school you would let the girls that were mean to you sit with you" dad shook his head.

"I'm a lot better now" Claire said.

Michael, Shane and Eve shook their heads.

**Before you know it, you're tagging along with them, and then you start to actually feel sorry for them. You'll tell me how Monica's not bad, she's just misunderstood, and before you know it you're braiding each others' hair and giggling over boy bands."**

"What a scary thought" Shane said.

"As much as it pains me to say this" Myrnin sighed. "I am inclined to agree with Collins".

"What are they putting in your blood?" Claire asked surprised.

"I was just thinking the same thing" Shane said, still staring at Myrnin. ****

Claire made a retching sound. "I wouldn't do that."

"Please. You like everybody. 

"I never liked Kim" Claire said.

"I never want to hear that name again" Eve frowned and the others nodded.

"Who's Kim?" mum and dad asked.

"A girl that make's Oliver seem nice" Claire sighed. "In a way".

**You even like me. You like Shane, and let's face it, Shane's kind of an idiot**

"It's only the truth" Eve said, as Shane put a hand over his hart.

"And to think I was going to let you play a game on the x-box" Shane said, in a fake hurt voces.

Michael rolled his eyes and hit Shane over the head. "Idiot".

"The best" Shane said, rubbing the back of his head.

"**At least right now." Eve's eyes narrowed as she thought about that. "And about Shane, I swear, if he doesn't snap out of it I'm going to punch him in the face. Well, punch him in the face and then run like hell."**

"I would never hit a girl" Shane said.

"What about a vampire girl?" Claire asked.

Shane thought about it for a moment "Ok yes but that's different".

The vampires and Claire frowned at him.****

Claire played that out in her head, and nearly laughed. Eve's best possible punch wouldn't do more than surprise Shane, she figured, but she could just picture the wounded look of confusion on his face. What the hell did I do?

Now Eve, Claire and Michael where laughing.

"Thanks" Shane rolled his eyes. "You're the best".****

"I'm not popular," she declared. "Monica's not my friend, and I'm not hanging with her, ever, end of story."

"Swear?"

Claire held up her hand. "Swear."

"I think that swearing was what got you in to this mess in the first place" dad frowned.

"Like I said" Claire sighed. "I had to do it".****

"Huh." Eve didn't sound convinced. "Whatever."

"Your right about not being convinced" Eve said.****

"Look, if we're friends, how about buying me a mocha?"

"Mooch."

"You're the one with the job."

"Not for must longer" Claire said. "I have a fleeing Myrnin will be in the next chapter or after that one".

"Great" Shane sighed.

"Finely" Myrnin said, ignoring Shane.****

###

"Must be a different part of the day" Claire said.****

Mid-afternoon, and it was raining, which was kind of a rarity - a cold early fall rain that came down in glittering sheets. 

"I love the rain" mum smiled. "Claire did to when she was a small girl".

Claire blushed but said nothing.

**Claire, like about ninety percent of the other students, hadn't thought to bring an umbrella, so she sloshed along miserably along the Quadrangle, past the empty benches and rain-soaked message boards, toward her Chem Lab.**

Claire and Myrnin smiled.

"I love Chem lab but I wish they did something harder from time to time" Claire said.

"That is why you have me" Myrnin said and Shane frowned at them.

**She loved Chem Lab. She hated rain. She hated being soaked to the skin and frankly, living in this part of Texas, it wasn't usually that much of a risk.**

"If your lucky then it could happen once a mouth" Michael said.

"Or less" Shane said.

**There was no room in her backpack for anything frivolous, like a raincoat. She worried her books were getting soggy, but the backpack was supposed to be waterproof ...**

"You look cold," said a voice from behind her, and then the cold rain cut off, and she heard the hollow thump of raindrops hitting the thin skin of an umbrella.

"Don't tell me that it's some guy trying to hit on you" Shane sighed.

"Don't worry" Claire said. "He's not".

**Claire looked up, blinked water out of her eyes, and saw she was walking under a golf umbrella big enough for four or five of her ... or one of her, plus the guy holding the umbrella. Because he was huge. Also, cute, in that big-boned football player kind of way.**

"Do you check out every one?" Eve said.

"No" Claire said.

"Good because I really don't want to hear you say that you think- Shane pointed at Myrnin- is hot" Shane said.

"I have you know that I am better looking than you" Myrnin said.

"I'm going to read before Shane try's to punch Myrnin" Eve said.

**He would have made Shane look small. Well-proportioned, though, so the height (had to be at least 6'5", Claire thought) and weight just seemed right on him. He had chocolate-brown skin and gorgeous brown eyes, and he seemed ... kind of nice.**

"Don't worry I will never fall for that again" Claire sighed. ****

"I'm Jerome," he said. "Hey."

"Hey," she said back, still amazed that somebody who was clearly somebody would stop to hang an umbrella over her head. "Thanks. Um, I'm Claire. Hi."

"I don't like the sound of this" dad frowned.

"Yes it douse seem odd" Myrnin nodded.****

She juggled her dripping backpack to her other hand and offered him her right. He took it and shook. His was about three times as large, big enough (she bet) to cup most of an entire football.

He was wearing a TPU athletic department t-shirt. No mystery about his major.

"Where you heading, Claire?"

"I don't like this" dad sighed.

"You said" Claire said. "But don't worry he want be there for much longer".****

"Chem Lab," she said, and pointed at the building, which was about a football field length away, on the other side of the Quad. He nodded and steered that direction. "Look, it's nice of you, but you don't have to - "

"It's no problem." He smiled at her. He had dimples. 

"Most people have dimples" Eve said, as Claire blushed.

"This was last year" Claire said, still blushing.

"Just making shore you know" Eve said.

"Thanks" Claire said.

**"I hear the Science Building is nice this time of year. And anything for a friend."**

"That happened fast" Michael said.

"You could say that" Claire nodded.****

"But I'm not - "

"Not that he listened" Claire sighed.

"I hate it when people do that" Eve nodded.

"Most people do it to me now" Claire said, thinking of the vampires.****

Jerome nodded to a group of girls standing huddled together under the awning of the Language Arts building. Pretty girls. In the center of them was Monica Morrell, and she blew Jerome a flirty sort of kiss.

"When is she not flirting" Shane frowned.

"She doesn't flirt around you" Claire pointed out.

"Thank god for that" Shane said.****

"Oh," Claire said. "That friend." Her estimate of Jerome fell by several dozen notches, hit bottom, and started digging for China. 

"I like the way you think" Eve said.

"Yes you are rather amusing" Myrnin said.

"I think I will take that as a complement" Claire said.

**"Look, I appreciate it, but I'm not sugar. I won't melt."**

"That could be a very boring life if you were" Shane said.

"I know" Claire nodded.****

She veered away and walked fast. Jerome took about two long strides and put the umbrella over her again without comment. She glared at him.

"I don't think I have ever seen you glare at anyone" Michael said, in a thoughtful voces.

"I think that should be a good thing" Claire said as Eve read.****

He lifted an eyebrow. "I can play this game this all day."  


"He likes to do his job" mum said.

"He just likes the idea of after he did what he was told" Claire said.

**"Fine," she said. "But I don't need favours from Monica."**

"No one douse" Shane said, darkly.

"Im with Shane" Eve said, before reading.****

"Girl, it's an umbrella, not a Lamborghini," he pointed out. Way too reasonably. "I'm not even lending it to you. It's not really that much of a favour."

She kept her mouth shut, head down, and walked fast. Jerome stopped at the foot of the Science Building's stairs, and she bounded up and darted under the concrete porch, which was already choked with other students hiding from the rain.

"I would have thought that you would have run" dad said.

"That would have been rude and the groaned was to wet" Claire shrugged.

"Like I said in the book" Eve said. "Way to nice".

**She looked back down. Jerome smiled and waved, and a bronze or copper bracelet caught her eye.  
**

"I thought I knew his name from somewhere" Michael said.

"Oh I remember him" Shane nodded. "We went to high school with me and Michael".

**He was Protected. Probably a native of Morganville.**

"Yes your right about that" Shane nodded.****

"I'm not her friend. That was not my fault," she complained, defending herself to an Eve who wasn't even there.

"Turning in to Myrnin" Oliver said, bored. "You must be so proud".

"I already was" Myrnin said making Claire blush and Shane glare at him.****

And then she sneezed, sniffled, and dragged her soggy butt to class.

###

"Another part of the day" Eve said. "I don't think they had these in the last two books".

"That's because they didn't" Claire said.****

The rain kept up all day and all night, but the next day dawned bright and shiny, with a pale silver sun not quite as fierce as Claire expected.

"I love it when the sun looks like that" mum smiled.

"I just like it when the sun comes up in the first place" Shane said as he glanced at the vampires.

"Eve you had better read before Shane dose something really stupid" Claire sighed.

**Kind of nice, actually. She'd already showered by the time Eve stumbled into the bathroom, looking more like the walking dead than most vampires, mumbled something, and ignored Claire as she started up the shower again. **

"So just like any normal day" Shane said.

"Shut it, Collins" Eve said from behind the book.

**Claire finished at the sink and hurried down the stairs. She found Michael at the coffeepot, emptying the filter of cold grounds.**

"Tasty" Shane joked.

"Im not going to ask" Michael said.

"I was joking man" Shane said.

"I can tell with you" Michael said shaking his head.

**Deeply weird that he was more of a morning person as a vampire. Maybe he was just enjoying having a morning again, instead of becoming a floaty ghost at dawn.**

"Anyone would" Claire said before Michael opened his mouth.****

"Eve's up. You'd better make it so dark the spoon melts."

"What are you trying to do to me?" Eve asked. "But you do have a point".

"I know you and your mornings" Claire shrugged.****

Michael shot her a half-smile, still almost lethal enough to stop a girl's heart.

"I'll keep that in mind" Michael joked.

"No need to do that" Eve said, before reading.

**Luckily he knew just how much current to use on his charm. "That bad, huh?"**

She thought about it for a second as she took down a bowl, the box of Rice Krispies, and found the milk behind the bottles of beer –

Claries mum and dad frowned.

"Don't worry I don't drink" Claire told them.

"Yes but still" dad frowned at Michael and Shane.

**Contraband, from Shane - in the fridge. "You've seen that movie where the zombies eat people's brains?"**

"Night of the Living Dead?"

"Where have I herded that before?" Myrnin asked.

"You made me make a list of games that have anything to do with zombies" Claire sighed.

"Why would I do that?" Myrnin asked before he clicked his finger. "Now I remember".

"He does this a lot" Claire told her parents.****

"The zombies would run if they got a look at her."

Michael spooned extra coffee into the fresh filter. He looked good, she thought. Strong, tall, confident. He had on a nice blue shirt and some not-so-ratty blue jeans, and he was wearing shoes. Running shoes, sure, but shoes. Claire stared at his feet. "You're going out," she said.

"Got a job," Michael said serenely. "Working at JT's Music over on Third Street, ten to close. Mostly I'll be demoing guitars and selling them, but JT said he'd let me do some private lessons if I wanted."

"It's weird to think how normal that is" Claire said.

"It is a little" Michael shrugged. "But that is how our life is most of the time". ****

That was so ... normal. Really normal. Claire bit her lip and tried to organize the explosion of questions in her brain. "Ah - what about the sun?" she asked. Because that seemed to be the first hurdle.

Oliver rolled his eyes.****

"They issued me a car," Michael said. "It's in the garage. Fully sun proofed. And there's underground parking at JT's. There is most places."

"Issued - who issued you a car?" He shot her a you're not stupid look. "The town? Amelie?"

He didn't answer directly as he slid the filter compartment shut and turned on the brew switch. The machine began wheezing and peeing into the pot. "They tell me it's standard procedure," he said. "For new vampires."

"It is" Myrnin nodded. "You get a new car every five years or so".

"I'm not going to ask how you know that" Claire sighed.

"Every vampire knows it" Myrnin said.****

"Not there have been any for fifty years, right?"

He shrugged. It was obvious that she was making him uncomfortable with the questions, but Claire couldn't help herself. 

"Thanks" Michael joked.

"Sorry" Claire blushed.

**"Michael -did they get you the job, too?"**

"No. I know JT. I got the job all by myself. They offered - " He stopped, clearly thinking he'd already said too much.

Claire finished it out, guessing. "They offered you some kind of job in the vampire community. Right? Or - " Oh, God. "Or they offered to make you a Protector?"

"Which I will never do" Michael said.

"We know Michael" Eve nodded before reading.****

"Not right off the bat," he said, still staring at the coffee maker. "You have to work up to that. So they say."

Michael. Owning people. Skimming off of their wages like some Mafia don. She tried not to let him see how sick that idea made her feel, that he'd ever really consider doing it.

"Don't worry I didn't think about it" Michael said.

"I was just freaked of the idea" Claire said.

"It's fine" Michael shrugged it off.****

His eyes suddenly cut toward her, as if he'd read her mind. "I didn't do it. I took the job at JT's, Claire," Michael said, and suddenly moved toward her. She flinched, and he took a deep breath and held out his hand in clear apology.

"Like I said I was freaked" Claire said. "Sorry Michael".

"And like I said its fine and I'm sorry" Michael said.

**"Sorry. I forget sometimes - it's hard, okay, learning how to move around people when I can go so much faster. But I wouldn't hurt you, Claire. No way."  
**

"Don't worry we know" Claire said, as Eve nodded. "Shane?"

"Claire's right" Shane nodded but everyone kept looking at him.

"Anyway" Eve said as she went back to the book.

**"Shane thinks - "**

"I don't think it is such a good idea to say that" Myrnin said.

"Your right about that" Claire nodded.****

Light caught and flared in Michael's eyes, eerie and frightening, and then he blinked and it was gone. 

"I hate it when you do that" Shane said. "It makes you so vamp".

"I wonder how that could be" Michael rolled his eyes.

"You had better read Eve" Claire said, as the boys looked like they were going to fight.

**He obviously made a real effort to keep his voice quiet. "Shane's wrong," he said. "I'm not changing, Claire. I'm still your friend. I'll look after you. All of you. Even Shane."**

"Don't start with I don't need to be looked after stuff" Claire sighed because Shane looked like he was going to say something.

"But it's true" Shane said under his breath.****

She didn't answer him. Truthfully, as much as she liked him - and it verged on love –

"Brother love" Claire said, as everyone looked at her. "Just brother".

"That's ok then" Shane and Eve said but Eve was more in joking way then Shane.

**She felt something different about him today. Something complicated and agitated and strange.**

"You have always been very good at being able to tell when one of us is hungry" Myrnin said.

"And it has saved my life a few times" Claire sighed.****

Was he ... hungry? He was staring at her. No, he was staring at the thin skin of her neck, wasn't he?

Claire didn't notices that her hand was moving to the bite mark on her neck before she could stop it.

"What is it dear" mum asked. "Do you have a sore neck?"

"What? No I didn't even know that my hand had moved" Claire said looking at her hand.

"Your hand was on that scare" dad said. "As if it hurt".

Claire glanced at Myrnin who was watching. "It's nothing let's keep reading".

Shane, Eve and Michael frowned.

**Claire put her hand to it, involuntary but irresistible, and Michael got a very slight pink flush in his pale cheeks and looked away.**

"Oh I know what it is" Myrnin said.

"What?" Claire asked.

But Myrnin shook his head.****

"I wouldn't," he said, in a far different tone than before. It almost sounded scared to her. "I wouldn't, Claire. You have to believe me. But - this is hard. It's so hard."

Mum and dad looked worried.

"Don't worry" Michael told them. "It was only very early days back then and it get's easer".****

She did believe him, mostly because she could hear all the heartbreak and sorrow in his voice. She took a breath, stepped forward, and hugged him. He was tall, the top of her head only brushed his chin. His arms felt strong and comforting, and she told herself that he wasn't warm because it was chilly in the kitchen. It wasn't really true, but that helped.

"You do that a lot" Michael said.

"Do what?" Claire asked confused. "Hug you?"

"No I mean you do things that most humans would never do" Michael said.****

"I wouldn't hurt you," he murmured. "But I've got to admit, I want to. I spent all my life hating vampires, and now - now look at me."

"You had to," Claire said. "You didn't have a choice."

"Why do I have the feeling that if this was on TV it would have music playing?" Eve asked.

"Because it would" Claire shrugged.****

She felt his sigh go through both of them. "Yeah," he said, "Shane's right, I did have a choice. But this is the choice I made, and now I have to live with it."

He let go when she stepped back. Neither of them knew what to say, so Claire busied herself by opening kitchen cabinets to get down the four mismatched cups they used in the morning. Michael's was plain chunky stoneware, oversized, like a diner cup on steroids. 

"I never thought of it like that" Michael smiled.

**Eve's was a petite black thing with a yawning cartoon vampire on it.**

"How did you get that?" Oliver asked.

"I made it" Eve shrugged.

**Shane's had a happy face with a bloody bullet hole in the center of its forehead. Claire had taken one with Goofy and Mickey on it.**

****

"How's school?" Michael asked. Neutral subjects. He didn't want to talk it out, he wanted to keep it inside.

"You're good at reading people" Michael said. "Your right about not wanting to talk about it".

"It's a gift" Claire shrugged.

**She wasn't too surprised. Michael had always been too self-contained for his own good, as far as she could tell.**

"Too easy," she sighed, and poured coffee.

"It still is but I have Myrnin to make up for it" Claire shrugged.

"It is my pleaser to save you from the boredom of the school day" Myrnin said. ****

They were sitting down and sipping from their mugs when the kitchen door opened, and Shane - wearing pajama bottoms and a ratty old faded t-shirt - came into the kitchen. He avoided Michael, picked up his cup off the counter, and filled it to the brim. He left without a word.

"Sorry" Shane said.****

Michael watched him go, face set and hard.

Claire felt the need to apologize. "He's just - "

"I think we know what he just is" Eve frowned at Shane.****

"I know," Michael said. "Believe me. I know exactly how Shane is. Doesn't mean I have to like it right now."

I really need to stop being the Glass Goodwill Ambassador, Claire thought, but she knew she'd keep on doing it. Somebody had to, after all. So after she'd finished her coffee, she went to talk to Shane.

"Please don't have any kissing in this chapter" Claire muttered under her breath so only the vampires could hear.****

Shane's door was unlocked and slightly open.

"I knew you would come and talk to me" Shane said.

**Claire pushed it and stepped inside, then stopped short. All her carefully prepared speeches flew right out of her head, because Shane was getting dressed.**

Claire blushed.

"I didn't plane on you seeing that" Shane said, Claire's mum and dad glared at him.

"Just read Eve" Claire said.****

The sight of him short-circuited her thought processes and completely grounded her better judgment. He'd already hauled on his blue jeans, and his back was to her. No shirt yet. She was spellbound by the ripples of muscles on his back, 

"You have never seen a vampire without a shirt then?" Eve asked.

Claire blushed and glanced at Myrnin who was looking smug before she answered.

"Never" Claire said before going on "and I don't plane to"

Shane was smiling just as smugly as Myrnin was before he stopped himself.

**The gorgeous smoothness of his skin, the way his shaggy hair brushed the tops of his shoulders and begged to be smoothed back ...**

Claire blushed even deeper red.****

The sound of his zipper being pulled up snapped her back to sanity. She stepped hastily back, out into the hall, and pulled the door almost shut, then knocked.

"What?" It wasn't a friendly response.

"Sorry" Shane said.

Claire waved it off.****

"It's me," she said. "Can I come in?"

She heard something halfway between a grunt and a sigh, and opened the door to find him dragging a dark gray, form-fitting shirt over his head. It looked very good on him. Not as good as the no-shirt thing, but she was trying hard not to think about that. It had made her warm and fluttery inside.

Claire stoped herself from hiding her head in her hands.****

"Is that a new shirt?" she asked, desperate to get her mind off the vivid mental pictures that kept bubbling up. That got another indefinite grunt. "It looks nice."

Shane gave her an ironic look. "We're talking clothes now? Wait, let me get my Fashion for Dummies book."

"I - never mind. About Michael - "

"Not the best time to bring that up" Claire sighed.

Eve read before Shane could apologizes. ****

"Stop." Shane stepped forward and kissed her on the forehead. "I know, you don't want me ripping him, but I can't help it. Give me some time, okay? I need to figure some things out."

Claire tipped her head back, and this time he found her lips. It was, she thought, supposed to be a fast and sweet little kiss, but somehow it slowed down, got warmer and deeper.

This time Claire did put her head in her hands as Oliver smirked at her.

**His lips were damp and soft as silk, and that was such a contrast to the hard lines of his body pressed against her. The strength of his hands sliding around her waist and pulling her even closer. She heard him growl low in his throat, a wild and hungry sound that made her go weak and faint.**

"Is there at least one chapter that you two don't make out in?" Eve asked.

"Wait for book six" Shane mutated.

"Please kill me before book six" Claire groaned.

"Oh I get it" Myrnin smirked at Claire.

"Kill me, kill me please I beg" Claire groaned.****

He broke the kiss and leaned against her, breathing hard. "Good morning to you too. Man, I just can't stay mad when you do that."

"When I find out who sent us these books I am going to kill them" Claire said.

"You do that" Eve said before she read.****

"Do what?" she asked innocently. She didn't feel innocent. 

"Yes I do" Claire sighed. "I'm very innocent".

Everyone who had seen Claire fight a vampire or had been in a fight with her rolled there eyes.

**She also didn't feel sixteen-nearly-seventeen, not at all. Shane always made her feel older. Much older. Ready for anything. It was a good thing Shane wasn't as dumb as her hormones seemed to be.**

"Unless you want to stay home and cut class, we don't really have time to talk about it," he said, and waggled his eyebrows. "So Wanna cut class and make out?"

Claire's parent's stared at him.****

She socked him on the arm. "No."

"Good" mum and dad nodded.****

"You are such a strange girl. Ow," he said, in the way that meant he hadn't felt it at all. "You riding with Eve?"

"When she passes the snarling cannibal phase, yeah. Another two cups of coffee, probably."

"I'm not that bad" Eve said from behind the book.

"Trust me when I say you are" Michael said.

"Whatever" Eve said.****

"You sure you don't want a bodyguard?" He meant it. Shane didn't have a job - she wasn't really sure he could get one, after what his dad had been up to in Morganville recently.

"I have a job" Shane said.

"Not back then" Claire said.

**Probably better he kept it low-profile for a while. The fewer vampires - and vampire loyalists - he came in contact with right now, the better. He was still thought of as an unindicted co-conspirator to his dad's revenge rampage, and even though the Mayor had officially signed his pardon, nobody had much liked it.**

Accidents happened.

"I don't need a bodyguard," Claire said. "Nobody's out to get me. Even Monica's gotten all friends-making with me."

"Now that was not a very smart thing to say" Eve said.

"I didn't really think before I said it" Claire sighed.****

That earned her a too-sharp look, which didn't go well with his reddened, kissable lips. "Yeah. Why is that?"

She shrugged and avoided his eyes. "I don't know."

"You lied to me but you can't lie to a vampire" Shane said.

"Sorry" Claire sighed. "But I'm not the best lire in the first place".****

He tipped her chin up with one finger. "So, are we at the lying part of the relationship already? Usually that comes after the exciting hot sexy honeymoon period."

Claire blushed.****

She stuck out her tongue at him, and he leaned forward and - to her horror - licked it. "Ewwww!"

"Even I can see that coming" Eve rolled her eyes.

Claire blushed deeper and looked at the floor.****

"Then don't stick it out." Shane smiled. "If you're going to hang out in my room and tempt me, there's a penalty. One item of clothing per minute comes off."

Mum and dad stared daggers at him and Claire blushed.****

"Perv."

"Just what I was thinking" Eve nodded.****

He pointed to himself. "Male and eighteen. What's your point?"

"You are so - "

"Say, you got any pleated miniskirts and knee socks? I really get off on - "

Myrnin was now making gagging noises.

"Just what I was thinking" Eve nodded to Myrnin.****

She squealed and dodged his grabby hands, then checked her watch. "Oh, crap - I really do have to go. I'm sorry. Look, you'll be -you're okay, right?"

The smile disappeared, leaving only a trace in his dark, secretive eyes. "Yeah," Shane said. "I'll be okay. Watch your back, Claire."

"You too." Claire started for the door, but she heard his footstep behind her and turned and he moved her back to the wall, tipped up her chin and kissed her so thoroughly that she felt her head fill with light and her knees turn to rubber.

Claire was still bright red and mutating under her breath and Shane where staring at the book.****

When she could breathe again, and he pulled back to give her just an inch or so of space between their lips, she gasped, "Was that a goodbye?"

"That was a come-home-soon," he said, and pushed off from the wall. "Seriously, Claire. Watch yourself. I worry."

"I worry more so know days" Shane said glancing to Myrnin.

Claire sighed and rolled her eyes.****

"I know," she said, and smiled. Her knees were still weak, and the chorusing light in her head just didn't seem to be fading. "Best kiss so far, by the way."

His eyebrows rose. "You're keeping score?"

"Hey, you raised the bar. I don't grade on a curve."

She left him, reluctantly, to grab her backpack and see if Eve was in the mood to eat brains, or give her a ride to school. (Very hot and funny - the whole last scene here)

"Thanks for the eating brains thing" Eve joked.

Claire was still blushing but said anyway "so who's going to read?"

"I will" dad said taking the book and reading.

"**Chapter 3" **dad read.

_**Sorry about the wait but some family things have been happening for the past week and this chapter is longer than the last book. Any way thanks for the reading next chapter should be up soon, please review.**_


	3. Chapter 3

"Thanks for the eating brains thing" Eve joked.

Claire was still blushing but said anyway "so who's going to read?"

"I will" dad said taking the book and reading.

"**Chapter 3" **dad read.

**Morning classes went pretty well, and Claire spent her breaks hanging at the coffee bar at the University Centre, where Eve barista's her way through the day. Eve was good at it - calm, efficient, seemingly impervious to the pissy demands and bitchiness of a lot of the students. **

"I did go to school here so I know what to do" Eve shrugged.

"And you are a bitch so that helps" Shane joked.

Eve hit him on the back of his head.

**Claire had figured out that the rude ones were mostly Protected, so it was a class thing; Eve had elected not to sign up with a vampire for protection, and those who had, looked down on her.**

"And that is why everyone tried to get me to be there friend" Claire sighed.

Mum and dad looked at her.

Claire sighed and said. "I have the highest protection in Morganville".****

Or else they were just bitchy. Which was equally possible. People didn't have to have a vampire connection to be arrogant jerks.

"A lot of people are but you can get around them if you know what to look for" Claire said.

"Which you are good at" Shane pointed out.

"Im not that good" Claire blushed.****

Eve was working today with another girl, somebody Claire didn't know; she had long straight brown hair that shimmered like a curtain when she moved. She wore it loose around her shoulders, which Claire guessed was okay because she wasn't working directly with the drinks or anything, just taking orders and cash. 

"Your right about the hair thing" Eve nodded.

**Her name tag said AMY, and she looked cheerful and sweet. She and Eve were talking like friends, which was good; Eve needed that. **

Eve looked at her.

"I just meant that it's good that you have other people to talk to at work" Claire said.

"I know I was just messing with you" Eve smiled.

"Thanks Eve" Claire sighed.

**Claire killed time between classes by skimming through her English Lit - boring - and reading a book she'd checked out from the library on advanced string theory - not boring. She liked the whole idea of vibrating strings being the basis of everything, that there were all kinds of surfaces that vibrated. It made the world more ... exciting. Always in motion.**

"Do we really need any more excitement in our lives?" Michael asked.

"No, but this is a different type of excitement" Claire said. "At least with this we are less likely to die".

"She has a point" Eve nodded. "But I will never get all of this string theory stuff".****

Her watch beeped to let her know she was going to be late for class if she didn't hurry, so she packed it up, waved to Amy and Eve, and jogged out of the UC and into the warm afternoon sunshine.

"That's what I should get" Claire said. "Some new sunglasses".

"I know a great place where you can get all different types of sunglasses" Myrnin said.

"I'll think about it" Claire said.****

As she was blinking in the glare, she ran into Monica literally as Monica was coming up the steps while she was going down. Claire automatically reached out to steady the other girl when she wavered, and then thought, what am I doing? Because Monica had once laughed as Claire tumbled down a flight of stairs and cracked her head halfway open.

"To nice for your own good" Eve shook her head.

"I'm with Eve" Shane nodded. "Should have let her fall".

"I would never do that" Claire shook her head.****

"Hey, watch it, bitch!" Monica snapped, and then did a double-take. "Claire? Oh, hi. Cute shirt!"

"See?" Claire asked her mum and dad who nodded.****

Claire looked down at herself, mystified. It wasn't. She didn't really own any clothes she'd classify as cute, and even the best of them would never match Monica's standards, which were much higher.

"You on your way to class?" Monica continued brightly. "Too bad, I'd buy you a mocha or something."

"I - uh - yeah, I've got class." Claire edged around and tried to descend the steps, but Monica got in her way. Monica's smile was friendly, but it didn't really warm up her big, pretty eyes. "I'll be late."

"She was so creepy when she was trying to be nice to me" Claire said.

"She did that to me in school one time" Eve nodded. "She wanted to have Shane's number but I didn't give it to her so she turned on me".

"She was bad at school" Shane sighed. "But on the phone".****

"One thing," Monica said, and lowered her voice. It occurred to Claire that it was almost the first time she'd seen Monica alone, not flanked by Gina and Jennifer, not trailing an entourage of The Popular.

"She's not always with them" Claire said. "Well now days".

"It's still her" Eve said.

**"I'm having a party on Friday night. Can you come? It's at my parents' house. Here's the address." Before Claire could react, Monica pressed a slip of paper into her hand. "Keep it quiet, all right? I'm only asking the best people. Oh, and wear something nice, it's formal."  
**

"I am never going to a party in Morganville ever again" Claire sighed.

"Why what happened?" Myrnin asked.

"Later" Claire sighed.

**And then Monica was gone, breezing by her up the steps, where she fell in with a group of girls and went into the UC's glass atrium chatting and laughing.**

The best people? Claire eyed the slip of paper, thought about throwing it away, and then shoved it in her pocket.

Maybe this was a golden opportunity to convince Monica that she wasn't ever going to be anything like a friend.

"And you would do that by going?" Oliver asked.

"I would have thought of something" Claire shrugged.

**She headed out for class, moving quickly, but keeping her eyes peeled. When she spotted the guys she was looking for, she veered off the sidewalk and onto the grass.**

"What are you doing?" mum asked.

"Just getting my own back" Claire smiled.

Claire's parents looked worried.****

Gamers. Nerds. They sat around outside most of the afternoon moving counters around on complicated-looking boards and rolling dice. She'd seen them every day for weeks, and in all that time she'd never seen any kind of girl with them, or even approach them.

"And why would they?" Eve asked.

"Don't be mean" Claire sighed. "I was like that when I was in high school".

**In fact, they stared at her when she cleared her throat like she was an alien from one of the planets on their game board.**

"You are a pretty girl and you're talking to them" Eve said. "Put it together".

"Don't worry I had already worked it out" Claire said. "And I'm not pretty".

Half the room looked at her making her blush.****

"Hi," she said, and thrust out the slip of paper. "My name's Monica. I'm having a party on Friday night. If you guys want to come. Tell your friends."

"Claver" Oliver said, to every ones suppresses.

"Thanks" Claire said.****

One of them reached out and gingerly took the slip of paper. Another snatched it away from him, read it, and said, "Wow. Really?"

"Really."

"Mind if we hand it out to some people?"

"So that was why it was so packet" Shane said.

"Yep" Claire smiled.****

"Knock yourself out."

Claire headed off to class.

"Claire Danvers?"

"Oh I just remembered what happened on that day" Claire said.

"What?" Michael asked.

"I met Myrnin for the first time" Claire nodded to Myrnin.

"At last" Myrnin said happily.****

Last class of the day, and Claire looked up, startled, from writing the date in her notebook. The professor didn't usually take roll. In fact, he seemed pretty much indifferent to who showed up, which was sometimes next to nobody. Like today - she was one of about twelve people.

"Not many people take that class but more than twelve" Claire said.

"Is it because it's hard?" mum asked.

"For me no but others" Claire shrugged.

**Showing up was really kind of useless in this particular case, since Professor What's-His-Name lectured from PowerPoint slides, bullet by bullet, and then made them available on his website right after the lecture. No wonder most people skipped.**

"And then there's that" Claire said.

"Why do you even bother to take it?" Shane asked.

"It looked like it would be interesting" Claire shrugged.****

She raised her hand, wondering what was going on. She had a guilty flash of handing over the party invitation to the Nerd Squad, but no, how could they find out so soon? And besides, who'd care, besides Monica?

"Is this when you got called?" Eve asked.

"To meet Myrnin?" Claire asked before nodding.****

The professor - gray, wrinkled, tired and unenthusiastic - stared at her for a second without recognition, then said, "You're wanted in Administration. Next building over, third floor, room 317. Go now."

"But - " Claire started to ask what was going on, but he'd already dismissed her and turned back to his PowerPoint, droning on in a monotone. She stuffed books into her bag, wondered again what was going on, and left without much regret.

"He could have written a note or something" dad said.

"He was more in to the PowerPoint" Claire shrugged.****

She'd been in the Administration building exactly three times - once to register, once to file the official paperwork to move off campus, once to do an add/drop. It looked just like any administration building at any school - grubby and utilitarian, with tired, crabby employees and desks piled high with file folders.

"What a fun place you go to" Eve joked.

"Thanks for telling me that my life is boring" Claire said.

"Any time" Eve said.

**She avoided the first-floor Registrar's office and went up the steps. The second floor was quieter, but still full of people talking, keys clicking on computers, printers running.**

The third floor was whisper-quiet. Claire started down the hallway, and the silence sank deeper. 

"Why is it that Morganville is so quite?" Shane asked.

"We don't really need much to hear" Michael shrugged.

**She couldn't even hear sounds from outside the windows, although she could clearly see people out there walking and talking, and cars tooling around the street below. Room 317 was at the end of the hall. All of the glossy wooden doors were firmly closed.**

"You make it sound so creepy" Eve said.

"It was" Claire said.****

She knocked on 317, and thought she heard someone say "Come in," so she turned the knob and stepped inside ... into darkness.

"Not the best idea in Morganville" Shane said.

**Complete, velvety darkness that disoriented her immediately. The knob slipped out of her hand and the door clicked shut, and she couldn't find it again. Her hand moved over what felt like featureless, smooth wall.**

A light bloomed behind her, and she turned to see the flare of a match, and a candle wick catching fire. In the glow, Amelie's face shone like perfect ivory.

"I don't like this" Shane said.

"I was fine" Claire said. "Amelie only want me to meet Myrnin".

"Claire would come to no harm with me" Amelie said. "Only if I hard reason to do so".****

The elder vampire looked exactly the same as before: cool, queenly, pale, with her white-blonde hair twisted back in an elegant updo that must have required servants to achieve. She was wearing a white silk suit, and her skin was flawless. If she wore makeup, Claire couldn't tell. Her eyes were eerie in the near-dark ... luminous and not quite human, and very beautiful.

"My apologies for the dramatics," Amelie said, and smiled at her. It was a very nice smile, cool and polite. Claire's mother had always loved the Hitchcock movie Rear Window, and Claire was struck by the thought that if Grace Kelly had ended up a vampire, this was how she'd have looked. Icy and perfect. "Don't bother looking for the door. It's gone."

"Great" Shane sighed.

"Like I said I was fine" Claire said.

"It was a close call" Shane said under his breath.****

Claire's heartbeat speeded up, and she knew Amelie could tell, though the vampire didn't comment on it; she just shook out the match and dropped it in a silver dish on the table next to the candle. Claire's eyes adjusted gradually to the dimness. She was standing in a fairly small room, some kind of library crammed with books. Crammed was a generous way to put it - they were double-stacked on the shelves, leaning in towers on the top of the bookcases, filling the corners in untidy ziggurats. So many books that the whole room smelled like ancient paper.

"Is that my library?" Myrnin asked.

Claire nodded. "We should clean it later".

"I like it the way it is" Myrnin said.

**There wasn't any wall space, except the way Claire had come in, that wasn't blocked up by packed, groaning shelves.**

"At least get some new shelves in there" Claire sighed.

"Fine but I like it the way it is" Myrnin said.

"Don't worry we can keep it mostly the same" Claire said.****

"Hi," Claire said awkwardly. She hadn't seen Amelie since signing the Protection papers and putting them, as instructed, in the mailbox outside. She'd expected some kind of visit, but ... nothing. "Um - what should I call you?"

"Really Claire?" Oliver rolled his eyes.

"I was new at this" Claire shrugged a little pink.****

Amelie's delicate brows rose, pale on pale. "I know that the concept of manners has declined, but I should think you would know at least some polite form of address that would be appropriate."

"Ma'am," Claire stammered. Amelie nodded.

So did Claire's mum and dad.

"Good girl" mum smiled.****

"That will do." She lit another candle. The light strengthened, flickering but casting a warm and welcome glow. Claire spotted another door in the shadows, small and fitted with an antique-style doorknob. There was a big skeleton key in the massive lock.

Nobody else in the room, just her and Amelie.

"Creepy" Eve said.

"More awkward" Claire said.****

"I have called you to discuss your studies," Amelie said, and sat down in a chair on the other side of the table. There wasn't any seat on Claire's side, so she stood there, awkwardly. She put her backpack down and folded her hands.

"I was nerves" Claire shrugged.****

"Yes ma'am," she said. "Aren't my grades okay?" Because usually a 4.0 GPA was okay by most standards.

"Ok, ok there better then what I ever got at school" Shane said.

"No surprises there" Eve joked.

"Like you did any better" Shane rolled his eyes.

"Give it a rest guys" Michael sighed. "We need to finish this chapter".****

Amelie dismissed it with a wave. "I did not say classes, I said studies. No doubt you are finding the local college beneath your abilities. You are said to be quite exceptional."

Claire didn't know what to say to that, so she didn't say anything.

"what do you say to that?" Claire asked.

"Not much you can say" Michael nodded.

**She wished she had a chair. She wished she could say something nice and get back to class and never, ever see Amelie again.**

"How nice and friendly of you" Oliver said.

"I was missing class and I hate it when that happens" Claire sighed.

**Because as superficially polite and kind as the old vampire was, there was something ice-cold about her. Something unsettlingly not human.**

"Wow, I would never have guised" Shane joked.

"Funny" Claire said.****

"I would like you to study privately with a friend of mine," Amelie said. "For credit, of course." She looked around, smiling very slightly. "This is his library. Mine is far more orderly."

Myrnin put a hand over his un-betting hart "I have you know that my library is more orderly then Oliver's".

"I don't have a library nor have I had one in over one-hundred years" Oliver snapped.

"A likely story" Myrnin said.

Claire's dad thought that it was best that he read before they could fight worse.****

Claire's throat felt tight and uncomfortable. "A ... uh ... vampire friend?"

"Is that an issue?" Amelie folded her white hands together on the table. The candlelight flickered in her eyes.

"N-no ma'am." Yes. God, she couldn't imagine what Shane was going to say.

"Or do for that matter" Claire sighed.

"Why what did he do?" mum asked.

"Shane punched Myrnin in the face" Claire sighed.

"One of the best things ever" Shane said, in a dreamy voces.****

"I believe you will find him most interesting, Claire. He is indeed one of the most brilliant minds I have ever encountered in my long life, and he has learned so much through his lifetime that he could never teach it all. Still, he has much to pass along. I have been seeking the right pupil, one who can quickly grasp the discoveries he has made."

Myrnin got up and bowed.

"Sit down you fool" Oliver snapped.****

"Oh," Claire whispered faintly. So ... an old vampire. 

"Very old" Myrnin corrected.

"You know most people don't like the idea of being old but not vampires" Claire said.

"What a silly idea that is" Myrnin said.

**Her experience wasn't so good with the older ones. Like Amelie, they were cold and strange, and most of them were cruel, too. Like Oliver. Oh God, she wasn't talking about Oliver, was she ...? **

Oliver rolled his eyes. "I would never agree to this in the first places".

**"Who - ?"**

Amelie looked down. Just for an instant, and then she met Claire's eyes and smiled. "You have not met," she said. "Not formally, at any rate. His name is Myrnin. He is one of my oldest friends and allies. Understand, Claire, that your actions since you came to Morganville, including your agreement with me, has won my trust. I would not grant this honour to any but those I found worthy."

"I never knew that you held me so high" Myrnin said to Amelie.

"You have been with me for many years of curse I hold you so high" Amelie said.****

Flattery. Claire recognized it, and knew the slight warmth in Amelie's voice was probably calculated, but it still worked. "Myrnin," she repeated.

"A very old and sadly forgotten name" Myrnin said.

"You may think so" Oliver said.

"Do you to ever give up?" Claire sighed. "Dad please read before it's would war three".****

"It is an old name," Amelie agreed, in response to the question in Claire's tone. "Old and forgotten, now. But once he was a great scholar, known and revered. His works should not be forgotten as well."

"You know I looked your name up and I could not find anything about you" Claire told Myrnin.

"I am not surprised" Myrnin nodded.****

There was something strange in that, but Claire was too nervous to figure out what Amelie could be trying to say. Or not say. She was working hard to swallow a lump in her throat, but it was about the size of a poisoned apple and seemed to be growing larger. She could only nod.

"A little nerves are we?" Eve asked.

"You could say that" Claire nodded.****

Amelie smiled. It looked kind of artificial, like an expression she'd practiced in a mirror rather than learned as a child. Smiling was something her face just didn't naturally do, Claire decided. And sure enough, the smile was gone in seconds, without a trace.

"If you're ready ...?"

"I don't think you can ever be ready to met Myrnin for the first time" Claire sighed.

"I shell take that as a complement" Myrnin said.****

Claire cast an involuntary, helpless look at the blank wall behind her. There wasn't a door, and that meant there was no way to retreat. So she didn't really have a choice.

"As if I did in the first place" Claire sighed.****

Amelie wasn't waiting for her answer, anyway. The ice queen stood up and walked - oh so very undead Grace Kelly - to another small, low doorway with the key in the lock. She turned the key, withdrew it, and looked down at it for a moment before holding it out to Claire. "Keep it," she said. "Leave your book bag here, please. I shouldn't want you to forget it. You will leave through the same door that brought you."

Claire's fingers closed around the key, registering rough, cold, heavy metal. She shoved it in the pocket of her blue jeans as Amelie swung open the door, and leaned her backpack against a convenient bookcase.

"You should have put the key in your bag" mum said.

Claire shrugged.****

"Myrnin?" Amelie's voice was low and gentle. "Myrnin, I've brought the girl I told you about. Her name is Claire."

Claire knew that tone of voice. You used it with old, sick people, people who didn't really understand what was happening anymore.

"I was right about that" Claire said. "Sort of anyway".

**People you didn't think were really going to be around for long. Coming from Amelie, it was really odd, because she could hear the love in that low voice. Could vampires love? **

"I know now" Claire said. "I have seen Michael and Eve and then there was Myrnin and ada".

"I keep forgetting that ada was your grandmother" Eve said.

"It's really wired to think about" Shane said.

**Well, sure, she guessed; Michael could, right? So why not Amelie, too?**

Claire stepped out from behind Amelie at the vampire's imperative gesture, and anxiously scanned the room. It was big, full of the weirdest mixture of equipment and junk she'd ever seen.

"I know it's not junk Myrnin" Claire said.

"Good" Myrnin nodded.

**A brand new widescreen laptop computer with a shimmying belly dancer as a screen saver. An abacus. A chemistry set that looked straight out of some old Sherlock Holmes movie. **

"Have you watched the Sherlock Holmes movie yet?" dad asked Claire.

"We watched it on movie night last week" Claire said. "It was really good".

"Have you seen the TV show?" mum asked.

"When it first came on" Claire nodded. "It was really good".

**More books, carelessly piled around as trip hazards, leaning in columns on every table. Lamps - some electric, some oil. Candles. Bottles and jars and shadows and angles and ... and a man.**

"Me" Myrnin smiled.

"No it's Oliver" Shane rolled his eyes.

"Don't start" Claire sighed.****

Claire blinked, because she was expecting an old, sick person; expecting it so much she looked around again, trying to find him. But the only man in the room sat in a chair, peacefully reading a book. He marked the spot with a finger, closed it, and looked up at Amelie.

"I wasn't really reading" Myrnin said. "I was just passing the time".

"Or in other words reading" Claire said.****

He was young, or at least he looked it. Shoulder-length curling brown hair, big dark puppy-dog eyes,

"Are they really puppy-dog eyes?" Myrnin asked.

"I guise "Eve shrugged.

"Myrnin these are my thought's so anything in these books are true" Claire shrugged.

**Flawless, faintly golden skin. Frozen at the age of maybe twenty-five,**

"twenty-fore" Myrnin said.

**Just enough for creases to be forming at the corners of his eyes. Also, he was really really ... pretty.**

Claire blushed and looked down. Myrnin looked smug and Shane looked like he would like nothing better than to punch Myrnin in the face.

"Why thank you my dear" Myrnin smiled at Claire.

"Do have to check out every one" Eve said.

"Shane?" Claire asked.

"Please read" Shane said, without looking at Claire.****

And he didn't look sick. Not at all.

"I've been waiting for you," he said. He spoke English, but with some kind of accent, nothing that Claire could identify. It sounded a little bit like Irish, a little bit like Scottish, but more ... liquid, somehow. Welsh?

"Yes I was from Conwy" Myrnin nodded.

"Yes, I remember from the fest" Claire said.

**"Claire, is it? Well, come forward, girl, I won't bite."**

Claire's hand up to her neck.

"Much any way" Shane glared at Myrnin.

Myrnin ignored him.

**He smiled, and unlike Amelie's cool attempt it was a warm, genuine expression, full of merriment. Claire took a couple of steps toward him. She sensed Amelie tensing behind her, and wondered why. **

"You don't seem sick" mum frowned at the book.

"Oh I was very sick but this was one of my more sane and safe time's" Myrnin said.

"I hope you're feeling better" mum said.

"Thanks to your Claire, very much so" Myrnin smiled at her.

Shane frowned at Myrnin and Claire's mum and dad who were smiling at Myrnin.

**Myrnin seemed okay. Seemed more okay than any vampire she'd seen so far, except maybe Sam, Michael's grandfather - next to Michael, the youngest vampire in Morganville.**

"Hello," she said, and got an even wider smile.

"You were in a very good mood" Claire said. "I missed that when you lost senses".

"So did I" Myrnin sighed.****

"She speaks! Excellent. I have no use for someone without a backbone. Tell me, young Claire, do you like the sciences?"

"The science is a bit of an old way to say it" Eve said.

"Myrnin is and old vampire Eve" Claire pointed out.****

That was an antique way of saying it ... the sciences. People usually said science or mentioned a specific thing, like biology or nuclear studies or chemistry. Still, she knew the right answer. "Yes sir. I love the sciences."

"The first time I heard of sciences when I was fore I loved it" Claire smiled.****

His dark eyes glittered, full of slightly wicked humor. "So very polite, you are. And philosophy?"

"I - I don't know. We didn't study it in high school. I just got to college."

"Science without philosophy is nonsense," he said, very seriously. "And alchemy? Do you know anything of it?"

"Myrnin I'm going to say sorry because back then I had thought alchemy was a joke" Claire sighed.

"Sadly most did and still do" Myrnin nodded.****

She just shook her head to that one. She knew what it meant, but wasn't it all about turning lead into gold or something like that? Sort of con man science?

"Sorry" Claire said but Myrnin waved it off.

Shane frowned at them.****

Myrnin looked tragically disappointed. She almost wanted to lie to him and tell him that she'd gotten an A in Alchemy 101.

Eve giggled. "You know Claire if I didn't know you I would have said you had a crush on him".

"Don't be silly Eve" Claire said, blushing and glancing at Shane.****

"Don't be difficult, Myrnin," Amelie said. "I told you, this age doesn't regard the subject with much respect. You won't find anyone with a working knowledge of the Hermetic arts, so you'll have to use what's available. From all accounts, this girl is quite gifted. She should be able to understand what you have to teach, if you are patient."

"I understand most of it but there are still a few things I don't get very well" Claire sighed. "For now anyway".

"Yes for now" Myrnin nodded.****

Myrnin nodded soberly and put the book aside. He stood up - and up - and up. He was tall, gawky, with long legs and arms - like a human stick bug. 

"Or in other words a lot taller then you thought" Eve said.

Claire nodded. "It took be aback".

"I was always taller than most children when I was young" Myrnin smiled. "And I did take many by surprises".

**He was wearing a weird mixture of clothes, too - not homeless-guy weird, but definitely funky.**

"When is he not?" Shane said, under his breath making Claire who had herd hit him on the arm.

"Don't start" Claire sighed.

**A vertically striped knit shirt under what looked like some kind of frock coat, and blue jeans, old ones, with holes in the knees. And flip-flops. Claire stared at his exposed toes. Somehow, with that outfit, flip-flops looked almost indecent.**

But he had pretty feet.

Shane glares at Myrnin.

Claire blushed but stared at the book.****

He extended his hand to Claire, bending over to do it. She carefully took it and shook. Myrnin looked surprised, then delighted. 

"I always like to learn new things" Myrnin smiled.

Oliver rolled his eyes.

**He pumped the handshake enthusiastically enough to make her shoulder ache. **

"Sorry" Myrnin said.

"It didn't hurt that much" Claire shrugged.

**"A handshake, is that the correct way to greet these days?" he asked. "Even for such a lovely young woman? I know it's common among men, but among women it seems quite a violent gesture - "**

"Yes," Claire said quickly. "It's fine. Everybody does it." God, he wasn't going to try to kiss her hand or anything, was he? 

"No if I were then it would have been before the handshake" Myrnin said.

**No, he was letting go and crossing his arms. Studying her.**

"Quickly," he said. "What's the elemental designation for rubidium?"

"What and what?" Eve and Shane asked.

"Rb" Claire smiled at them.****

"Um ... Rb."

"Atomic number?"

Michael, Eve and Shane opened there mouths to ask.

"Thirty-seven" Myrnin and Claire said.****

Claire frantically called to mind the periodic table. She'd used it the same way other kids used puzzles, back when she was young; she'd known everything. 

"Your fathers work friends would laugh when we first told them" mum said.

**"Thirty-seven."**

"Group number?"

"I'm not going to bother to ask" Eve sighed and the boys nodded.****

She could see the square on the table now, as real as if it was a card in her hand. "Group one," she said confidently. "Alkali metal. The period number is five."

"And what are the dangers of working with rubidium, young Claire?"

"It spontaneously burns when exposed to air. It also reacts violently to water."

"How do you know all of this" Michael asked.

"I have been learning it all my life" Claire shrugged. "You pick up on a few things".****

"Solid, liquid, gas, plasma?"

"Solid to forty degrees centigrade. That's the melting point." She waited for the next question, but Myrnin only cocked his head and watched her. "How did I do?"

"Very good dear" mum smiled.

"There is always room for improvement" Claire shrugged.

"Yes but not a lot" Shane smiled.****

"Adequately," he said. "You've memorized well. But memorization is not science, and science is not knowledge." Myrnin stalked over to a leaning stack of books, tossed some carelessly to the floor, and found a threadbare volume that he flipped open without much regard for the fragile pages. "Ah! Here. What is this, then?"  


"You knew that I would not know what it was so why bother showing it to me?" Claire asked.

"Just cheeking" Myrnin shrugged.

**He held the book out to her. Claire squinted at the dim illustration. **

"Another thing about you lab back then was the lighting" Claire said.

"For you yes" Myrnin nodded. "But I was mostly there alone".

"You must have been very lonely" mum said.

"Not as much as you would think" Myrnin said.

**It looked a little like a small square sail, full of wind. She frowned and shook her head. Myrnin snapped the book closed with a sharp clap, making her jump.**

"I find it amusing how easy it is to make you jump" Myrnin said.

"I know you do" Claire said.****

"Too much to teach her," he said to Amelie. He began to pace, then got distracted and fiddled with a glass retort full of some noxious green liquid. "I don't have time to coddle infants, Amelie. Bring me someone who at least understands the basics of what I am trying to - "

"No vampire or human in town could do my job" Claire sighed. "Not at that time anyway".

"Don't act like you don't love your job" Eve said. "I know you love it you just don't love being ordered around part".

Claire shrugged.****

"I've told you before, there is no one available who would recognize that symbol, and in any case, the field has never attracted the most trustworthy of characters. Give Claire a chance. She's a quick study." Her voice cooled to a measured, icy tone. "Do not force me to make it an order, Myrnin."

"So you where so close to not having a job?" Shane asked.

"I supposes" Claire said.

"Just your luck" Shane said under his breath. ****

He stopped moving, but he didn't raise his head. "I don't want another student." He sounded resentful.

"Nevertheless, you must have one."

"Have you explained the risks?"

"No" Claire sighed. "No one really told me the whole story".

"And I have a feeling that you only told us part of the story" Michael frowned.

"I didn't want to worry you guys" Claire sighed. "I did tell you most of it". ****

"I leave that to you. She is yours, Myrnin. But make no mistake, I will hold you responsible for her performance, and for her safety."

Claire heard the click of metal, and when she looked behind her, Amelie was ... gone.

She'd left her alone. With him.

"Claire" mum and dad frowned at her.

"Hay he is a vampire, old vampire and I had only just meet him" Claire shrugged.

"Yes but you should still not talk about people like that" mum said.****

When Claire turned back to him, Myrnin had raised his head and was staring straight at her. Warm, brown eyes no longer amused. Very serious.

"I think you are the only human in this town that has ever been able to tell what mood I am in" Myrnin said.

"And it's lucky I have" Claire sighed.****

"It seems neither of us has much choice," he said. "We'll just have to make the best of it, then." He fumbled through the stacks of books and came up with one that looked just as threadbare and fragile as the first one he'd mishandled, but this one was much was thinner. He thrust it forward, toward her, and Claire took it. The inscription on the cover was in English. Metals in Egyptian Inscriptions.

"I think I saw you with a few of them books" Eve said.

"You would have" Claire nodded. "I was told to read them and then write this thing for it".

"What fun" Eve joked.****

"The symbol I showed you is for copper," Myrnin said. "Know the rest when you come back tomorrow. I will also expect you to read Basil Valentine's Last Will and Testament. I have a copy here - " He shoved books around, almost frantic, and located something with a cry of satisfaction. He held that out to her as well. "Pay special attention to the alchemical symbols. You'll be expected to copy them out until you know them by heart."

"How many times did you have to write them out?" Michael asked.

"To many to remember" Claire sighed. "Myrnin can be a slave driver when he wants".

"I will take that as a complement" Myrnin said.****

"But - "

"Take them! Take them and get out! Out! I'm busy!"

"I could feel myself being lost" Myrnin sighed.

"At lest you made me leave before you did" Claire said.

"Before what?" dad asked.

"Soon" Claire sighed.****

Myrnin rushed past her, bowling over stacks of books in his haste, to fling open the door through which Amelie had disappeared. He was at least a foot taller than the door itself, like a human in a hobbit-house. He stood there, jittering his foot in impatience, the flip-flop making plastic slaps between flesh and floor.

Eve stated laughing "sorry mental pitcher".****

"Did you hear me?" he snapped. "Go. No time now. Get out. Come tomorrow."

"But - I don't know how to get home. Or back here."

He stared for a second, and then he laughed. "Someone will have to bring you. I can't configure the system just for you!"  


"Already have" Claire said.

"Yes but that was then and this is now" Myrnin point out.

**Configure the system? Claire stopped, staring back. "What system? These - doorways?" The implications were dizzying. If Myrnin understood the doorways, controlled the doorways, the ones that appeared and disappeared out of nowhere in Morganville ... I need to know. I need to know how that works.**

"No I really didn't need to know" Claire sighed.

"Why not?" mum asked.

"It should be in one of the other books" Claire sighed.****

"Yes, I am responsible for that, among many other things," he said. "Later, Claire. Go now. Talk tomorrow."

He took hold of her and bodily shoved her through the doorway, and slammed it behind her. She heard his hand hit the wood with stunning force.

"I have seen Myrnin bend steel like rubber" Claire shrugged. "I wouldn't be surprised in things he can bend now". ****

"Lock it!" he shouted. Claire dug the key out of her pocket. She could barely get it in the lock; the light was bad here, and her hands were shaking. But she managed, and heard the solid click as the tumblers fell. "Take the key!" Myrnin yelled.

"But - "

"You're responsible for me now, Claire. You must keep me safe." Myrnin's voice had fallen lower now, as if he'd gotten tired. "Keep me safe from everyone."

"I don't remember this last part very much" Myrnin sighed.

"Sadly I do" Claire sighed.****

And then he started ... crying.

Shane looked surprised and mum and dad where looking sad.

"I have seen worse from Myrnin" Claire sighed. ****

"Myrnin?" Claire said, bending closer to the door. "Are you okay? Should I come in and - "

The whole door vibrated with the force of his blow. Claire scrambled backward, shocked.

"I did not think that he was going to do that" Claire sighed.****

And the crying continued. Lost, little-boy crying.

"In a why I was very lost" Myrnin nodded. "But I don't know about little-boy lost".

"Sorry" Claire blushed.****

Claire hesitated for a few seconds, then turned to see that Amelie hadn't left after all. She was standing quietly by the desk, in the glow of the single candle, and her expression was composed, but sad.

"Not really the best thing to see at a time like that" Shane said.

"It surprised me to see it" Claire nodded.****

"Myrnin's mind is not what it once was. He has periods of lucidity, however. And at all costs, you must take full advantage of these to learn what he has to teach. It can't be lost, Claire. It must not be lost. There are things he does that -" Amelie shook her head. "There are projects in motion that must continue."

"I never get told the whole story" Claire sighed.

"No you just have to work it out" Eve said.

"I don't have to" Claire said. "But I do find out".****

Claire's heart was racing, her whole body shaking. "He's crazy, he's a vampire, and you want me to be his student."

"I have always thought that" Shane frowned.

"Myrnin's just... very different" Claire said.

"Try crazy" Shane said.

"I am right here" Myrnin waved his hand from where he sat.

"Good for you" Shane snapped.****

"No," Amelie said. "I require you to be his student. You will comply, Claire, by the rules of the contract you signed of your own free will. This is valuable work. I would not risk you unnecessarily."

Have you explained to her the risks? Myrnin had asked that. "What risks?" Claire demanded.

"Not that I was told" Claire sighed.****

Amelie merely pointed to the bookcase, where her backpack still leaned. Claire grabbed it and hauled it to her shoulder - and paused, because a doorway had formed in the blank area of the wall. A solid wooden door, with a plain knob. Identical to those at the university. "Open it," Amelie said.

"But - "

"Open the door, Claire."

Claire did, and the glare of fluorescent lights and the dead, air-conditioned smell of the Administration Building swept over her in a rush.

"I like the smell of old books better" Claire shrugged.****

Amelie blew out the light. In the darkness, Claire couldn't see her anymore.

"Vampires have always been the best at hiding" Eve said.****

"Be ready at four o'clock tomorrow in the University Centre," Amelie said. "Sam will fetch you. I suggest you do the reading Myrnin requires of you. And Claire - tell no one what you're doing here. Absolutely no one."

"That was so hard not telling anyone about it" Claire sighed.

"I could tell that something was up" Eve said. "But I thought that you would just talk to Shane about it".****

It wasn't until Claire was in the hall, with the door shut, that she realized Amelie hadn't answered her question.

"I was still in shock" Claire shrugged.

**She opened the door again, but - there was just a room piled with discarded, broken furniture. Something moved furtively in the corner. There was a window with crooked blinds, but no Amelie. No cave of books. No Myrnin.**

"He's sick," Claire said aloud, to whatever was rustling in the corner behind a three-legged desk. "That's why she talked to him like that. He's old, and he's sick. Maybe even dying."

"But your all better now?" mum asked confused.

"Very mush so" Myrnin smiled at her.

"How?" dad asked.

"Me and Myrnin find out how to get him better" Claire said.****

She shut the door gently, adjusted the weight of her backpack, and looked down at the two ancient books in her hand.

Last Will and Testament.

She hoped that wasn't a sign of her future.

"Still alive" Claire said.

"Lucky" Shane said.****

Eve chattered on about her day on the drive back, talking about some boy who had totally tried to ask her out, and Amy's boyfriend Chad who'd come by to help clean up and was a total sweetheart, and how her boss was a toerag but at least he'd given her a twenty-cent-an-hour raise.

"So just normal Eve talk then" Shane joked.

"Shut it, Collin's" Eve said.

**"I think that's just for not quitting in the first couple of weeks," Eve said, but she sounded pretty jacked about it, and Claire was pleased for her. "Yeah, it's only a couple more dollars a week, but - "**

"But it's something," Claire nodded. "Congratulations, Eve. You deserve it. You're really good at this. I'll bet you could run the whole thing if you wanted."

"I think that would have been a great idea" Michael smiled at Eve.

"To much work" Eve said.****

"Me? Manager?" Eve laughed so hard she snorted. "Yeah, like I'd be able to order people around and have anybody listen to me. Get serious."

"No, I mean it. You're nice, people like you, you know what you're doing. You could."

Eve shot her a sideways look that was almost a frown. "You're serious."

"I still think that" Claire said.

"Like I said too much work" Eve shrugged but smiled.****

"Yep."

"I don't know if I'm ready for management. Don't you have to wear a tie for that?"

"You've got one," Claire said solemnly.

"I have two now" Eve smiled. "Michael got it for me as a joke".

"Is that the fanged smiley face one?" Shane asked.

"Yep" Eve said.****

"Only one with the Grim Reaper on it. Hey, wait. That could be my management style! Screw up and I'll kill you." Eve grinned. "They ought to teach that in business school."

"They probably do here," Claire sighed.

"I don't think anything would surprise me" Claire said. "Back then anyway".****

"What's up with you, CB?" CB stood for Claire Bear, which was Eve's funny nickname for her. Claire didn't think she much resembled a bear, not even the stuffed Gund variety. "You seem really, I don't know, thoughtful."

"You look like that when you worried about something" Eve said.

"She did that when she was a kid" dad said.****

"Yeah, well - " She couldn't talk to Eve about Myrnin. "Homework and stuff." Yeah, it was just that she'd never had quite this kind of pass/fail pressure before. 

"And trust me it was pressure" Claire sighed.

"You work well under pressure" Shane said. "So that's good".

"And lucky" Claire said.

**She'd flipped through the book on Egyptian inscriptions. That was pretty straightforward, though she wasn't sure how actually Egyptian it all was. Interesting, though. The other one, Last Will and Testament, was lots tougher. Tons of symbols in some weird notation she didn't understand. She'd be up all night trying to make sure she remembered even the basics.**

"Don't worry I got a lot of sleep that night" Claire said to her mother.

"Good" mum nodded.

**"Eve ... has anybody ever broken their contract in Morganville? I mean, and lived?"**

"Contract?" Eve shot her yet another look, this one definitely coming with a side order of frowning. "You're talking about a vamp contract? Sure. People have tried everything, one time or another. But not very successfully."

"You were starting to scare me" Eve said.

"Sorry but I need to ask someone" Claire shrugged.****

"What happened?"

"Back in the old days, they got hanged. These days, I think they just throw 'em in jail until they rot, if the vampires don't eat 'em, but hey. Not like you and me have to worry about it, right? Live free or die!" Eve held up her hand. "High five!"

Claire slapped it, without much enthusiasm. She was thinking about the way the pen had felt in her hand, moving across that stiff paper. Signing her life away. And she felt ashamed.

"You sort of looked it" Eve said.

"I'm not really good at hiding my feelings" Claire shrugged.****

"Why?" Eve asked.

"Huh?"

"Nice" Michael joked.

"I was thinking" Claire said.****

"Why are you asking?" Eve made the turn onto Lot Street, and the glow of the windows of the Glass House - home - spilled out into the street. "C'mon, Claire. Someone you know thinking about it?"

"Um ... there's this guy at school. I just heard him say - I wondered, that's all."  


"Should have guessed" Eve said.

**"Well, quit wondering. His problem, not yours. Ready for the fire drill? Quick like a bunny. Go!" Eve braked the black Caddy hard, Claire threw open her passenger-side door and jogged around the back of the car, banged open the white picket gate, and raced up the walk to the steps with her house keys in her hand. She heard the engine die, and the noisy clatter of Eve's shoes behind her.**

"At least we don't have to do that anymore" Claire said. "With the pins".

"I still do it if it's late" Eve said and Shane nodded.

"Old habits die hard" Shane nodded.****

Eve's steps stopped. Stopped dead. Claire whirled, scared and expecting to see a vampire on the prowl, but Eve was just checking the mailbox, grabbing a small handful of stuff and then hurrying up the steps as she sorted through it. Claire stepped over the threshold, and Eve followed, hip-bumping the door shut behind them and shooting the bolt with her elbow, a feat Claire would never have tried - or been able to accomplish with half that grace.

"Eve made me do it once" Claire sighed. "I ended up get a big bruise".****

"Electric bill, water bill - internet bill. Oh, and something for you." Eve pulled out a small bubble-padded mailer from the pile and handed it over. "No return address."

Who'd be sending her anything? Well, Mom and Dad, sure, and the occasional card from another relative. Her former BFF Elizabeth had sent a postcard from Texas A&M, but only the one.

"We had a phone call from her" mum said. "She told us about how school was and how different it is without you there".

"She only liked the fact that I helped her with homework" Claire sighed. "But I do miss her".

"Next time I talk to her mother I will get her to call you" mum said.

**Claire didn't recognize the neat handwriting on the outside of the envelope. Eve left her to it and walked down the hallway, yelling to let Shane and Michael know they were back, to which Michael yelled back for her to get in here and make me some dinner, now, woman.**

"Dad did that to mum once and mum didn't talk to him all dinner" Claire said.

"Yes" dad smiled. "Your mouth hates it when I call her woman".****

"News flash, boy, you're supposed to be evil, not redneck!"

Claire ripped open the package and upended it, and small jewelry box slid out into her hand. A nice one - red velvet, with some kind of gold crest embossed on it. She felt the skin tighten up on the back of her neck. Oh no.

"So that was what was in the letter" Eve said.****

Suspicions confirmed as she flipped up the lid and saw the gold bracelet nestled on blood-red velvet. It was pretty, and it wasn't too big; delicate enough to circle one of her small wrists.

The Founder's Symbol was embossed discreetly in a small gold cartouche.

Oh, no.

"Did you really think that you would not get a bracelet?" Oliver rolled his eyes.

"Not at that time no" Claire sighed.****

Claire bit her lip and stared at the bracelet for a long time, then snapped the lid shut, put it back in the envelope, and went to join Eve and Michael in the kitchen.

"So?" Eve was getting down pots, and Michael was rummaging in the refrigerator. "Spaghetti okay with you?"

"I love spaghetti" Shane said.

"We can have it for lunch" Claire said.****

"Fine," Claire said. She wondered if she looked spooked. 

"Sort of" eve said.

"Now that I think about it" Michael nodded.

**She hoped not, but even if she did Eve was looking at Michael, and he was looking back, and she was safe from any kind of major inspection while they were making eyes at each other.**

"You know us so well" Eve smiled at Claire.

"I have lived with you for over a year" Claire point out.****

Until she turned, and ran into Shane, who'd come in the kitchen door behind her. The package felt hot and heavy in her right hand, and she took an involuntary step back.

Which hurt him. She saw the flash of it in his eyes. "Hey," he said. "You all right?"

She nodded, unable to speak, because if she said anything it would have to be a lie, and she didn't want to lie to him. 

"I really hate lying" Claire sighed.

**Shane stepped closer and put a warm hand on her face, and it felt good, so very good that she leaned into it, then further, into his arms. He made her feel small and loved, and for just a second, what was in the package in her hand didn't matter.**

"You're working too hard," he said. "You look pale. School okay?"

"At lest I don't have to lie about that" Claire said.****

"School's fine," she said. That wasn't a lie, school was definitely not what scared her anymore. "I guess I need more sleep."  


"Everyone in Morganville need's more sleep" Michael said.

"The humans do" Claire said.

**"Just a few more days until the weekend." He kissed the top of her head, bent closer, and whispered, "My room. I need to talk to you."**

Mum and dad frowned at Shane****

She blinked, but he was already stepping back and heading out the door. She looked over her shoulder at Eve and Michael, but they were happily talking as Eve adjusted the flame under the pots, and they hadn't noticed anything.

Claire shoved the package into her backpack, zipped it up, and followed Shane upstairs.

"Your right about not seeing you go" Eve and Michael said.

"I can be sneaky some times" Claire shrugged.****

Shane's room was very utilitarian - his bed was never made, though he made an attempt as she came in to straighten out the sheets and toss the blanket over it. Couple of posters on the wall, nothing special. No photos, no mementos. He didn't spend a lot of time here, except to sleep.

"I don't really see the point of staying in a room with nothing to do" Shane said.

"I would say that you could read a book but..." Claire said.

"If you can find a book that tickets all my box then I'll read it" Shane said.

"I'll get back to you" Claire said.****

Claire leaned her backpack against the wall and sat down next to him on the bed. "What?" she asked. If she'd expected a wild pre-dinner make-out session, she was disappointed. He didn't even put his arm around her.

Claire blushed and her mum and dad nodded.****

"I'm thinking of leaving," he said.

"Good luck with that Collin's" Oliver said.****

"Leaving? But Eve's making dinner - "

Claire blushed and Myrnin shook his head amused.****

He turned and made eye contact. "Leaving Morganville."

She felt a surge of utter panic. "No. You can't!"

"Done it before. Look, this place, it's - I didn't come back here because I missed it. I came back because my Dad sent me, and now that he's been and gone and I'm not doing his dirty work anymore - " Shane's eyes were begging her to understand. 

"I'm glade you worked it out" Shane said.

**"I want a life, Claire. And you don't belong here. You can't stay. They'll kill you. No, worse. They'll make you into one of them, one of the walking dead. I'm not talking about the vampires, either. Nobody who lives here has a pulse, not really."**

"so do you still think that?" Claire asked Shane.

Shane didn't answer.****

"Shane - "

He kissed her, and his lips were warm and damp and soft and urgent.

Claire blushed and stared at the wall behind her dad.

**"Please," he whispered. "We need to leave this town. It's going to get bad. I can feel it."**

God, why was he doing this? Why now? "I can't," she said. "I - school, and - I just can't, Shane. I can't leave." Her signature on a piece of paper. Her soul on a platter. It had been the price to keep them safe, but she'd have to keep on paying, right? As apprentice to Myrnin. And she guessed that wouldn't be a long-distance study course.

"I don't think it would really be Morganville without the vampires or going to the lab" Claire said.

Shane frowned.

**"Please." It was barely a whisper from him, his lips brushing hers, and honestly, she would have done almost anything for him when he used that tone, but this time ...**

"What happened?" she asked.

"What?"

"I thought you were going to be all for it" Shane sighed.

"Sorry" Claire said.

"If I knew what I know now then I would never have said it" Shane said.****

"Was it something with Michael? Did he - did you - ?" She didn't even know what she was asking, but something had deeply disturbed Shane, and she had no idea what it was.

"Don't bother to ask" Shane said when Claire tried to ask him.****

He looked at her for a long few seconds, then pulled away, stood up, and walked to his window to look down on the back yard they never really used. "My dad called," he said. "He told me that he was coming back, and he wanted me to be prepared to take out some vampires. If I stay, I'm going to have to kill Michael. I don't want to be here, Claire. I can't."

"Thanks men" Michael said.

"You're my man" Shane said. "Vamp or not".

"Same to you" Michael nodded. "But without the vampire thing".****

He didn't want to make the choice, not again. Claire bit her lip, hard; she could hear the pain in his voice, although he wasn't going to let her see it in his expression. "You really think your dad will come back?"

"Yeah. Eventually. Maybe not this month, maybe not this year, but ... someday. And next time, he'll have what he needs to start a real war around here." Shane shivered; she saw the muscles in his back tense up under the tight gray shirt he was wearing. "I need to get you out of here before you get hurt."

"I can look after myself" Claire sighed.

"I know" Shane nodded. "But wish you didn't have to".****

Claire got up, walked to him, and put her arms around him from behind. She leaned against him, her head on his back, sighed. "I'm more worried about you," she said. "You and trouble ..."

"Yeah." She heard the smile in his voice. "We're like that."

"That is the end of that chapter" dad said.

"Can I read?" mum asked.

Dad gave her the book.

"**Chapter 4" **mum read.

_**Hope you liked it. This chapter has got to be one of the best in this book with Myrnin being in it. Sorry if it got a little boring in the end but I'm not really used to writing this much. Please review :)**_


	4. Chapter 4

"That is the end of that chapter" dad said.

"Can I read?" mum asked.

Dad gave her the book.

"**Chapter 4" **mum read.

**The spaghetti was good, and a little pleading got Shane to sit down and eat. He sat across from Michael, but they didn't talk, and they didn't make eye contact. **

"Don't say it Shane" Michael said. "It's in the past".

Shane closed his mouth and sighed.

**All in all, pretty polite, and Claire was just starting to relax when Shane asked, blandly, "You put extra garlic in this, Eve? You know how I like the garlic."**

"This is petty" Oliver said, bored.

"Sorry Shane but he douse have a good point" Claire said. "It was very petty and stupid".

Shane nodded not looking at Claire.****

She shot him a dirty look. "Oh, the neighbourhood knows." 

"I wouldn't have been surprised" Eve said.

**And then an apologetic one toward Michael. "It's okay, right? Not too much?" Because garlic wasn't something vampires were especially fond of. That was why Shane tended to use it as garnish on everything he ate.**

"Really boy?" Myrnin rolled his eyes.

"No one asked you" Shane snapped and glared at Myrnin who raised his eyebrows at him.

"Can we please just read this chapter before you start on each other" Claire sighed.

**"Its fine," Michael said, but he was picking at his food, and he looked a little pale. "Monica stopped by today. Looking for you, Claire."**

Both Shane and Eve groaned. For once, all three of her housemates were entirely in agreement. And they were all looking at her.

"I really hate it when you do that" Claire said.

"We know" Eve said.****

"What?" she asked. "I swear, it's not - I'm not sucking up to her or anything! She's just - crazy, okay? I'm not her friend. I don't know why she's coming around."

"She's probably going to set you up again," Eve said, and scooped more spaghetti into her bowl. "Like she did at the frat dance. Hey, she's throwing a party this Friday, did you hear? Super exclusive, flying in out of towners and everything. I guess it's her birthday, or Daddy-gave-me-money day, or whatever. We should crash."

"Seeing her face was one of the best parts of it" Shane smiled, dreamily.

"I still have the photo" Eve smiled. "I'll show you it later or give you a copy".

"Sweet" Shane smiled.****

"I like the sound of that," Shane said. "Crashing Monica's party." He glanced at Michael, then quickly away. "What about you? That break some kind of vampire rules of conduct or something?"

The vampires in the room rolled their eyes.

"Smart" Claire hit him on the back of his head.****

"Blow me, Shane."

"Boys," Eve said primly. "Language. Minor at the table."

"Yes" dad said. "That's right".

Claire rolled her eyes.****

"Well," Shane said, "I wasn't actually planning to do it."

Claire rolled her eyes. "Not like it's the first time I've heard it. Or said it."

Claire's parents frowned.****

"You shouldn't say it," Michael said, all seriousness. "No, I mean it. Girls should say 'eat me,' not 'blow me.' Wouldn't recommend 'bite me,' though. Not around here."

"He's right" Myrnin nodded. "Perhaps that is good advices".

"Are...thanks?" Michael blinked.****

Eve choked on her spaghetti. Shane pounded her on the back, but he was laughing too, and so was Michael, and Claire glared at them for a little bit before giving in and admitting it was funny, after all.

Everything was all right.

"For now anyway" Claire sighed.****

"So Friday night?" Eve asked, wiping her eyes and gasping through her giggles. "Par-tay? Because I could so use a good blowout."

"I'm in," Michael said, and took a manful bite of spaghetti. Claire wondered if it burned him.

Michael shock his head. "It's just a little spicy".

"It gets better as you age" Oliver said, bored.

**"I think if I'm with you, there's no way she can keep us out. Vampire VIP status. Might as well be good for something."**

Shane looked at him, and for a second there was that warmth that Claire missed so much, but then it was gone again, and the wall was back firmly in place between the two of them.

Claire, Michael and Eve sighed as Shane looked guilty.****

"Must be nice," he said. "We should all go, if it's going to ruin Monica's night."

"I think we did a good job at that" Eve said.

"Better than good I would say" Shane smiled.

"Shame it didn't end so well" Eve sighed.****

The finished the rest of the meal in uncomfortable silence. Claire realized that she kept thinking about that red velvet box sitting upstairs in her room, and struggled not to look guilty. 

"You did look odd" Shane nodded.

"I notice it but I was thinking about other stuff" Eve said.

**Probably didn't succeed. She caught Michael watching her with a strange intensity; whether he was picking up on her discomfort or still wondering about why she didn't jump at the chance to go to Monica's party.**

"Both really" Michael said.****

She ate too fast, cleaned her dishes, and dashed upstairs with a mumbled excuse about homework. Well, it wasn't like they weren't used to her studying. It was Shane's turn for dishes, so that would keep him busy for a while ...

The box was right where she'd left it, sitting on the dresser. She grabbed it, put her back against the wall, and slid down to a cross-legged sitting position as she weighed the box in her hand.

"And then just about died from shook" Claire said.

"It can't have been that bad" mum said before reading.****

"You're wondering whether or not to wear it," Amelie said, and Claire yelped in surprise. The elegant older vampire, completely at her ease, was seated in the antique old velvet chair in the corner, her hands folded primly in her lap. She looked like a painting, not a person; there was something about her - now more than ever - that seemed antique and cold as marble.

Claire blushed as the vampires looked at her.****

Claire scrambled to her feet, feeling stupid about it, but you just didn't sit like that in Amelie's presence.

"At lest you have some manners" Oliver muttered.

Myrnin shock his head.

**Amelie acknowledged the courtesy with a graceful nod, but didn't otherwise move.**

"I apologize for surprising you, Claire, but I needed to speak with you alone," she said.

"You could have called or asked to meet her" Shane said.

"I wished for us both to be in an equal setting" Amelie said, coldly making Shane blink.****

"How can you get in here? I mean, this is our house, aren't vampires ... ?"

"Prevented from entry? Not into another vampire's home, and even were you all human, this house ultimately belongs to me. I built it, as I built all of the Founder Houses. 

"With help from Myrnin" Claire said.

"I really didn't want to know that" Shane frowned.

**The house knows me, and so I need no permissions to enter." Amelie's eyes glinted in the dark. "Does that disturb you?"**

Claire swallowed and didn't answer. "What did you want?"

"I would have thought that, that was clear" Myrnin said.

"I was just surprised" Claire said. ****

Amelie raised one long, slender finger and pointed at the velvet box in Claire's hand. "I want you to put that on."

"But - "

"I am not asking. I am instructing."

"I wish I had been warned about how it would have been put on" Claire sighed glancing at her arm.

"Would you have still put it on?" Oliver asked.

Claire didn't answer.****

Claire shivered, because although Amelie's voice stayed level, it sounded ... hard. She opened the box and shook the bracelet out. It felt heavy and warm in her hand, and she peered at it carefully.

"It was a really weird feeling" Claire said. "And even weirder taking it off".****

There wasn't a catch, but it was clearly too small to fit over her hand. "I don't know how – "

She saw a flash in her peripheral vision, and by the time she looked up, Amelie was taking the bracelet out of her palm, and cold strong fingers were holding her arm.

"Creepy" Eve and Shane joked.

"Don't start" Claire said.****

"It's made for you," Amelie said. "Hold still. Unlike the bracelets most of the other children wear, yours cannot be removed. The contract you signed gives me this right, do you understand?"

"If I hadn't then I now do" Claire said. "But it could have been a lot worse".

"How could it have been worse?" Shane asked.

"She could have taking my blood or money" Claire said.****

"But - no, I don't want - "

Too late. Amelie moved, and the bracelet seemed to pass through Claire's skin and bone, and settle heavy around her wrist. 

Mum and Eve looked slightly sick.

"It didn't hurt" Claire told them. "It was just different".

Eve nodded but mum still looked sick about it.

**Claire tried to yank free, but there was no way, not as strong as Amelie was. Amelie smiled and held her still for another second, just to make the point, before she let go. Claire turned the bracelet frantically, pressing, looking for the trick.**

It looked seamless, and it wasn't coming off.

"What is it with vampires and hiding things?" Claire asked the room.

No one replied.****

"It must be done this way, the old way," Amelie said. "This bracelet will save your life, Claire. Mark me. It is a favour I have given rarely in my life. You should be grateful."

"I think about it now then yes I am grateful" Claire nodded. "But there are parts that I wish never happened".

"It should have been me doing that not you" Shane sighed.

"Like you would be able to do it without being sick" Eve said. "If anybody it should have been me".

"Guys it happened and there's no going back now" Claire said. "But thanks".****

Grateful? Claire felt like a dog on a leash, and she hated it. She glared at Amelie, and the vampire's smile intensified. She couldn't really say it brightened - there was something in it that undermined the whole concept of comfort.

"I wonder what that could be" Shane muttered.****

"Perhaps you'll be grateful at a later date," Amelie said, and raised her eyebrows. "Very well. I'll leave you now. No doubt you have studies."

"How am I supposed to hide this from my friends?" Claire blurted, as the vampire walked toward the door.

"And that is our problem how?" Oliver asked.

"I was upset and mad" Claire sighed. "I wasn't really thinking".

"You seem to do that a lot" Oliver said.****

"You aren't," Amelie said, and opened the door without unlocking it. "Don't forget. You should be well-prepared for Myrnin tomorrow." She stepped out into the hall and closed it behind her. Claire lunged forward and turned the knob, but it refused to open. By the time she twisted the thumb-lock and swung it back, Amelie was gone.

"I hate it when Michael does that to me" Eve said. "He tells me he will be right back and before I asked he's gone".

Claire nodded. "Myrnin does the something to me".

"One word for you lades" Shane said. "Vampire".

**The hall was empty. Claire stood there, listening to the clatter of dishes from downstairs, the distant laughter, and wanted to cry.**

She scrubbed at her eyes, took a deep breath, and went to her desk to try to study.

"Try was a key word of it" Claire said. "I kept thinking about it".

"And I bet you didn't get much sleep" Shane said.

"Pretty much" Claire nodded and her parents frowned.****

It was a busy day of classes, quizzes, and discussion groups, and Claire was grateful for the afternoon break when it finally arrived. She felt stupid, dressed in her long-sleeved tee, but it was the only thing she had that could hide the bracelet, and she desperately wanted to hide it.

"I should by some more long-sleeved tops" Claire said. "Winter will be here soon".

"I don't bother with them myself" Michael and Shane nodded.

"But you're a vampire and Shanes a guy" Claire point out.

"She has a point" Eve nodded.

**So far, so good. Eve hadn't noticed, Shane hadn't been awake they'd left for school. No sign of Michael, either. She'd gotten desperate last night and tried a couple of ways to break it - scissors, then a pair of rusty old bolt-cutters from the basement - but she broke the blade on the scissors, and the bolt-cutters were clumsy and slid right off the metal. She couldn't do it alone, and she couldn't ask for help.**

"I would have to cut my arm of to get it off" Claire sighed. "And I wasn't that desperate"

"I'm happy to hear that" dad said.****

Can't hide it forever.

"To true" Claire sighed.

"I will give you this" Michael said. "You can try to hide things when you want".****

Well, she could try.

Claire headed for the U.C. and the coffee bar, and she found Eve harassed, pink-cheeked under the rice powder makeup, all alone behind the counter. "Where's Amy?" Claire asked, and handed over three dollars for a mocha. "I thought she was working all week?"

Eve and Claire sighed sadly.

"That was the morning that I was told" Claire said.****

"Yeah, no kidding, me too. I called my boss, but he's sick and so's Kim, so it's just me today. Not enough coffee in the world to make this easy." Eve blew hair from her sweaty forehead and zipped over to the espresso machine, where she pulled shots. "Ever have one of those dreams where you're running and everybody else is standing still, but you can't catch up?"

"Funny I had one of them last week" Shane said.

"I hate have them" Eve said.

"My dreams are just weird and a little wrong" Claire said.****

"No," Claire said. "Usually mine are about being naked in class."

Claire blushed. "See what I mean about being wrong?"

"Yes but its funny" Eve giggled.

"Thanks Eve" Claire sighed still red faced.****

Eve grinned. "For that, you get a free caramel shot. Go sit down. I don't need you hovering like the rest of these vultures."

Claire claimed a study desk and spread out her books, got her mocha when Eve called her name, and yawned as she cracked open Last Will and Testament again. She'd spent most of the night memorizing the symbols, but they were tricky.

"Still are" Claire said. "But I think I have worked out a way to remember them".

"I've tried to work them out but they just make my head hurt" Eve said.

"Why were you even trying to read them?" Claire asked glancing at Myrnin to see if he was ok about this.

"I was interested in what you do" Eve shrugged.

**She'd gotten all of the Egyptian ones down, but these were a whole lot less straightforward, and she had the sense that Myrnin wouldn't be too forgiving of mistakes.**

"Mistakes are learning" Myrnin said. "But you are right about being forgiving when I was sick".

"My hand hurt all night from having to writ over and over" Claire said.

"It could have been worse" Michael said. "Like you said".****

A shadow fell over her book. She looked up and saw Detective Travis Lowe, and his partner, Joe Hess, standing close behind him. She knew both of them pretty well; they'd helped her during that crazy time when Shane's dad had been skulking around Morganville, trying to kill vampires (and succeeding). They didn't wear bracelets, and they weren't Protected; as she understood it, they'd earned some kind of special status. She wasn't sure how they'd managed that, but it had to be something really brave.

"I think they jumped in to help a vampire who was in the middle of a mob" Michael said.

"Did the vampire live?" Claire asked.

"Only just from what I heard" Michael grimaced.

Claire looked at the older vampires put they ignored her gaze.****

"Morning, Claire," Hess said, and pulled up a chair. Lowe did the same. They weren't all that similar in body types - Hess was tall and kind of wiry, with a long face; Lowe was chubby and balding. But the expressions in their eyes were identical - careful, hidden, wary. "How have you been?"

"Doing better than normal" Claire said.

"Do you even have a normal?" Eve asked.

"Yes and there's not a lot that's not in there" Claire said.****

"Fine," she said, and resisted the nearly overwhelming urge to touch her bracelet, fiddle with it. She looked from one to the other, feeling less secure all the time. "What's going on? Is something wrong?"

"Yeah," Lowe said. "You could say that. Look, Claire, there's - I'm sorry to tell you this, but there was a dead girl out back of your house. She was found this morning by the trash collectors."

Mum and dad gasped.

"You never told us this" dad said white faced.

"I didn't want you to do this" Claire sighed.

Mum and dad frowned and mum still white faced read. ****

A dead girl? Claire swallowed hard. "Who is she?"

"Amy Callum," Hess said. "She's a local girl. Family lives just a few blocks from you. Her people are pretty broken up about it." He shifted his gaze toward the coffee bar. "She worked here."

"Such a waste of a young life" dad said.

"That happens a lot here sir" Shane said.

Dad frowned at him.****

Amy? Coffee Bar Amy? Oh no ... "I knew her," Claire said faintly. "She worked with Eve. She was supposed to be here today. Eve was saying - " Eve. Claire looked over and saw that Eve was still chattering away brightly, filling orders, taking cash. They hadn't told her yet. "You're sure it was our house?"

"Claire - " The two detectives exchanged a look, not a good one. "Her body was stuffed inside of your trash can. We're sure."

Eve looked sick.

"Are you ok?" Michael asked.

"Im fine it's just I was only told part of it" Eve said, faintly.

Michael haled her hand.****

Claire felt faint. That close ... she'd put out trash just two days ago, right? Dumped garbage bags into the can. Amy had been alive then. And now ...

"Did you see anything last night?" Hess continued.

"For once I didn't see what was going on" Claire said.

"And you shouldn't have to ever see it" dad said.

"It's life" Claire said sadly. "Where born, we live and then we die".

"I forgot I ever told you that" mum said. "It was just after you grandmother death and you where six years old".

"I can still remember being told" Claire said.****

"No, I was - it was dark when I got home. And then I studied all night."

"Hear anything, maybe some racket out by the garbage cans?"

"No sir. I had headphones on. I'm sorry."

Shane had been looking out the window, she remembered. Maybe he'd seen someone. But he'd have said, right? He wouldn't hide something like that.

Shane sighed. "Sometimes you just have to not say anything".

Mum and dad looked at him.****

An awful thought struck her, and she looked up into Joe Hess's calm, impartial eyes. "Was it - " Too many people around. She mimed fangs in the neck. He shook his head.

Claire rubbed the side of her neck without much thought of doing it.****

"It's the same as the last one we found," Lowe said. "Can't rule out our toothy friends, but it doesn't fit their style. You know whose style it fits, though?"

"Jason's," Claire said numbly. "Eve's brother. He's still out?"

Eve sighed. "I wish I could have helped him as a kid".

"Like you just said" Michael said. "You yourself where just a kid and it's not like much could have been done to stop it".

"But I still wish I had" Eve sighed.****

"Haven't caught him doing anything illegal yet. But we will. He's too crazy to live sane." Lowe studied her. "Haven't seen him, have you?"

"No."

"Good." Like there'd been some signal between them, Hess and Lowe got up from their chairs. "We'd better go tell Eve. Look, you think of anything, you call, all right? And don't go out alone. Protection doesn't cover this." Lowe cast a significant look at her wrist, and she felt herself blush, like he'd guessed what colour panties she had on.

"Humans have no respect" Myrnin said, under his breath.

**"You need to go out; you go with one of your friends, all right? Same goes for Eve. We'll try to keep an eye on you, but caution is your best defence."**

Claire watched as the cops walked away. They exchanged nods with a tallish young man who was coming her direction. For a second she thought it was Michael - he had the same walk, the same basic shape - but then his hair caught the light. Red hair, not blond like Michael's.

"Sam" Shane said.

"You really did look like him" Eve said sadly.

"I was always told that as a kid" Michael said.****

Sam. Sam Glass, Michael's grandfather. Amelie had told her that Sam would escort her to see Myrnin; she'd just forgotten about it. Well, that was okay. Claire liked Sam. He was quiet and kind and didn't seem much like a vampire at all, except for the pale skin and the slight weird shine to his eyes. 

"Or the fact that he drank blood" Shane said.

"Don't talk like that" Claire frowned. "Not here, not now".

**Exactly like Michael, now that she thought of it. But then, they were the two youngest, and - weirdly - related. Maybe the older the vampires got, the farther they moved from normal.**

"That it true" Oliver said.

"We know" Claire said, glancing at Michael. "But he's still Michael".

"For now" Oliver said.****

"Hey, Claire," Sam said, as if they'd just talked five minutes before, although she hadn't seen him for nearly a week, at least. She supposed that time was different for vampires. "What'd they want?" He was wearing a TPU t-shirt and jeans, and it made him look kind of hot. 

"Eve please tell me that you didn't think the same thing" Claire said.

Eve just looked at the book.

**Hot for a redheaded vampire, anyway. And he had a nice, if absent, smile. She wasn't his type. As far as Claire knew, Sam was still totally in love with Amelie, a concept she found harder to wrap her brain around than curved surface string theory.**

"Don't say a thing Shane" Claire said, glancing at said vampire queen.****

He was still waiting for an answer. She scrambled to put one together. "There's a dead girl, she was found in our garbage cans. Amy. Amy Callum?"

"I liked Amy" Eve said sadly. "Most people can't see threw the Goth thing but she could".

"I never really talked to her" Claire sighed. "But she looked like a nice girl".

"She was younger at school" Michael said. "But she was nice".****

Sam's mobile, earnest face took on a grim look. "Dammit. I know the family, they're good folks. I'll stop by and see them." He sat down and leaned closer, dropping his volume. 

"He's going to talk to you about vampires" Eve said.

"We know Eve" Shane said.

**"She wasn't a vampire kill, I know that much. I'd have heard by now if someone had stepped out of line."**

"No," Claire agreed. "It sounded like she was killed by one of us." She realized, with a rush of horror, that he wasn't "us," exactly, and blushed. 

"A lot of people do or I should say did that to him" Oliver said. "Most human's thought that he was human".

"I'm not surprised" Claire said.

**"I mean - one of the - humans."**

Sam smiled at her, but his eyes were a little sad. "That's all right, Claire, I'm used to it by now. It's an us-and-them town." He looked down at his hands, loose and relaxed on the table top. "I'm supposed to take you to your appointment."

"I thought you were going to work" mum said.

"It's code" Claire said.****

"Yeah." She hastily closed up her books and began loading her backpack. "Sorry, I didn't realize what time it was - "

"No rush," he said. Still not looking at her. Very softly, he continued, "Claire. Are you sure you know what you're doing?"

"No" Claire sighed. "But at least now days I get money for doing so I'm happy".

"You make more money then me most weeks" Eve frowned. "Not fare".****

"What?"

His hand flashed out and grabbed her wrist - the one with the bracelet hidden under the long sleeve. It dug painfully into her skin. "You know what."

"Ow," she whispered, and he let go. "I had to. I didn't have a choice. I had to sign if I wanted to keep my friends safe."

"Like I keep telling everyone" Claire sighed. "Most people thought that I just did it for power".

"Most people would have" Michael said.****

Sam didn't say anything to that; he was looking at her now, but she didn't dare meet his eyes. She didn't like him knowing about her agreement with Amelie. What if he told Michael? What if Michael told Shane? He's going to find out, sooner or later. Well, she'd much rather it be later.

Sam said, "I know that. I wish you wouldn't do this other thing. With Myrnin. It's - not safe."

"Nothing Claire does is safe" Eve said.

"Let's not talk like this in front of my parents" Claire hissed in Eve's ear.****

"I know. He's sick or something. But he won't hurt me. Amelie - "

Myrnin shock he's head sadly.****

"Amelie isn't in the business of worrying about individuals." That, for Sam, was surprisingly bitter, especially when it came to Amelie. "She's using you the way she uses all humans. It's not personal, but it's not in your best interest, either."

"Why? What is it you're not telling me?"

"A lot of things" Claire sighed.****

Sam looked at her for a long time, clearly trying to decide, and finally said, "Myrnin's had five apprentices in the past few years. Two of them were vampires."

Claire blinked, surprised, as Sam got to his feet. "Five? What happened to them?"

Myrnin sighed.

"You where sick Myrnin" Claire said, sadly.

But Myrnin still shock his head.****

"You're asking the right questions. Now ask the right people."

He walked away. Claire gasped, grabbed her bag, and followed.

"He walked faster then I thought he was" Claire shrugged.

"Vampire" Shane said.

"Yes thank you genius" Eve rolled her eyes.****

Over at the coffee bar, the two detectives were breaking the news to Eve. As Claire looked back, she saw the precise second that Eve realized her friend was dead. Even from across the room, it hurt to see the pain in her face, quickly masked and locked away. In Morganville, losing someone was something you got used to, Claire supposed.

God, this town sucked sometimes.

"What do you mean sometimes?" Shane asked.

"Don't Shane" Claire sighed.****

Sam had a car, a sleek dark-red sedan with dark-tinted windows. It was parked in the underground garage beneath the U.C., in a reserved spot marked SPONSORS ONLY, with a graphic of a sticker that had to appear in the corner of the windshield for the parking to be legal.

"And we need to be told this why?" Oliver asked bored.

"Oh, shut up" Myrnin said.

"Mum read before Oliver kills Myrnin" Claire said.****

A sticker which Sam, of course, had. "So that means what, you donate money or something?"

Sam opened the passenger door for her, a bit of chivalry she wasn't really used to,

Mum and dad frowned at Shane.

"It doesn't matter" Claire told them. "Really I think it's a little silly".

But mum and dad were still frowning at Shane.

**And Claire climbed inside. "Not exactly," he said. "Amelie gives them to vampires who have campus business."**

"What did he do?" dad asked.

"He was a teacher" Michael said.****

Once he was in the car, turning the key, Claire said, "You have campus business?"

"I teach night classes," Sam said, and grinned. He looked about twelve, when he did that. She had the feeling it wasn't something vampires were into, looking that endearingly goofy. 

"I forgot how much you didn't know about Myrnin" Eve said.

"I had only met him once" Claire shrugged.

**Maybe if they were, they'd be more popular with the local breathing population. "Sort of an outreach program."**

"Cool." The tinting was so dark it was like midnight outside. "You can see through this?"

"I know Oliver" Claire said. "Vampire no kidding".****

"Like daylight," Sam said, and she gave up, buckled her seatbelt, and let him drive. It wasn't a long drive - nothing in Morganville was - but she had time to notice some things about Sam's car. It was clean, really clean.

"Most vampire cars are" Claire said. "Even Myrnin's".

"I think I will take that as a complement" Myrnin said.

"You always do" Claire said.

**No trash at all. (Well, he wouldn't be chowing down on burgers in the car, now, would he? Wait. He could ...) It also didn't smell like most cars. It smelled new and kind of sterile. "How are classes going?"**

Oh, Sam was going to do the interested-adult thing now. "Fine," Claire said. Nobody ever wanted to really hear the truth, to a question like that, but fine wasn't a lie, either. "They're not very hard." Also not a lie.

"I don't see why you bother to go to school when you know it all" Shane said.

"I don't think other people would see it that way" Claire said.****

Sam shot her a glance, or so she thought, in the dim lights from the dashboard. 

"I bet he did most of the time" Eve said.

"I hope he still kept and eye on the road" dad frowned.

"Vampires are good at doing two things at once" Claire sighed.

**"Maybe you're not getting all you can out of them," he said. "Ever thought of that?"**

She shrugged. "I've always been ahead. It's better than high school, but I was hoping for something harder."

"Trust me I got it" Claire said.

"We know" Shane frowned.

Claire and Myrnin glanced at him but didn't say a thing.****

"Like working for Myrnin?" Sam's voice had gone dry. "That's a challenge, all right. Claire - "

"At lest he was warning me about it" Claire said.

"He wouldn't have been Sam if he hadn't" Michael said, sadly. ****

"Amelie didn't exactly give me a choice."

"But you still want to do it, don't you?"

"Sam was really good at reading people" Claire sighed.

"Personal I think you're crazy" Eve said. "But you wouldn't be Claire if you didn't".

"Thanks Eve" Claire said.****

She did. She had to admit that. Myrnin had been scary, but there had been something so bright in him, too. She knew that spark. She felt it herself, and she was always looking for someone, something to feed it.

Myrnin nodded. "I spent most of my life looking for that in people".

"Same" Claire nodded. "But you're the only person I have ever met with it".

"I am happy that you got to find it once in your life" Myrnin smiled at her making Shane glare at him

**"Maybe he just needs someone to talk to," she said.**

"If only" Myrnin sighed. "I had Ada for that and Amelie".****

Sam made a noncommittal noise that somehow sounded amused, too, and pulled the car to a stop. "I have to move fast," he said. "It's the door at the end of the alley, I'll meet you there in the shade."

"I wish he had told me about the alley beforehand" Claire said.

"Yes he should have" dad frowned.****

He opened his door and just ... vanished. The door slammed shut, but it did it on its own. Claire gaped, unbuckled her seatbelt, and got out, but there was no sign of Sam at all on the street, in the brilliant sunlight.

"It could be because of the sun" Oliver rolled his eyes.

"Thank you Oliver for that because I would never have known" Claire said.

Oliver looked at her coldly.

**The car was parked at the curb of a cul-de-sac, and it took her a second, but then she recognized the house in front of her. A big gothic ramble of a house, nearly a mirror image of the Glass House where she lived, but this one belonged to a lady named Katherine Day and her granddaughter.**

"I love gramma day" Eve smiled.

"She makes the best blue berry pies" Michael nodded.

"And juices" Claire said.****

Gramma Day was on her porch, rocking peacefully and stirring the warm air with a paper fan. Claire raised her hand and waved, and Gramma waved back. "You come to see me, girl?" Gramma called. "Come on up, I'll get some lemonade!"

"And we can't forget about the lemonade" Michael said.

"I think we met her when we lived here" mum sad and dad nodded.****

"Maybe later!" Claire called back. "I have to go - "

She realized, with a jolt of horror, where Sam had told her to go.

Into the alley. The alley into which everybody, Gramma Day included, had told her not to go. The alley with the trap-door spider vampire who'd tried before to lure her inside.

Mum and dad looked at Myrnin.

"He was sick mum and dad" Claire told them. "And I was just a human out were I shouldn't have been".

"We know he would only hurt you if he had to" mum said.

"How?" Claire asked confused.

"Mothers know all" mum gave Myrnin a knowing smile. "But it's not me that should be saying it".

Claire was still staring at them both confused before shaking her head.****

Gramma pulled herself to her feet. She was a tiny, wrinkled woman who looked as dry and tough as old leather. Had to be tough, to be old in Morganville, Claire thought. "You all right, girl?" she asked.

"Yeah," Claire said. "Thanks. I'll - I'll be back."

"I must have looked pale" Claire said.****

She headed off down the alley. Behind her, Gramma Day called out, "Girl, what you playin' at? Ain't you got good sense?"

"Most likely not" Claire sighed. "But what choice did I have?"

"Not a lot my dear" Myrnin agreed.****

Probably not.

"I still think that" Michael nodded. "Sorry Myrnin".

Myrnin waved he's sorry off.****

The alley was narrow, with fences on both sides, and it seemed to get even more narrow the farther she went, like a funnel. 

"The first time I saw it" Eve said. "I thought it looked like a throat or something".

"I have never thought of it that way" Myrnin nodded, thoughtfully.

"I have more than once" Claire shrived.

**She didn't feel any strange attraction, though, or hear voices.**

She also didn't see Sam.

"That was one of the main thing's that was freaking me out" Claire said.

"I could think of other freaky things" Eve grimaced.

"I don't want to know" Shane said.****

"Here," a voice said, as she turned a slight corner. And there he was, leaning back in a patch of black shade next to an overhanging doorway, which was attached to what looked like a shack. Not a really well-made shack, either. Claire wondered if it was supposed to lean like that.

"It could do with a repair" Myrnin nodded. "But I have more impotent thing's to think about".

"So it's my job" Claire said. "Thought as much".****

"It's Myrnin," she said. "He's the trap door spider."

"You could say that a lot" Shane nodded.****

Sam looked thoughtful at that, and then nodded. "Most people know not to come down this way," he said. "He only takes Unprotecteds. He can tell the difference, so he wouldn't try it with you. Not now."

"We will soon find out" Shane said.

"I was fine" Claire sighed. "I can take care of myself just as much as you can".

Shane frowned.****

Cheery. Sam opened the door, which didn't look sturdy enough to keep out a cool breeze, and stepped inside. A smell washed out into the still air, something old and bitter. 

"Just like the person inside" Shane joked.

"Oh come on" Eve said. "I don't even know Myrnin but I know that his not bitter".

"Eve's right" Claire nodded. "Myrnin is not bitter".

**Chemicals. Ancient paper. Unwashed clothes.**

"Only differences are the unwashed clothes" Claire said.****

Well?

Claire sucked in a breath that tasted of all those things, and stepped into Myrnin's lair.

"Was that the end?"Claire asked.

"Yes honey" mum nodded. "Who's going to read?"

"I will" Michael said, taking the book.

"**Chapter 5" **Michael read.

_**Hope you liked it. I just read black down and it was so good. Please review :)**_


	5. Chapter 5

"Was that the end?"Claire asked.

"Yes honey" mum nodded. "Who's going to read?"

"I will" Michael said, taking the book.

"**Chapter 5" **Michael read.

**Myrnin was in a mood.**

"When is he not in a mood?" Eve asked.

"He was just happier then the last time I had seen him" Claire shrugged.

**A good mood.**

"I love teaching" Myrnin said, happily.

Oliver rolled his eyes.****

"Claire!" As she came down the steps - the only thing in the shack itself were the steps leading down - into his main chamber, he flashed across the room in a blur and stopped just an inch away from her, close enough that she flinched back into Sam's broad chest and he steadied her. 

"Wow he is happy" Eve said.

"He still does that" Claire said. "He thinks it's funny".

"It is" Myrnin grinned.

**Myrnin's eyes were wide, blazing with enthusiasm. "I've been waiting! Late, late, late, you're very late, you know.**

"You sound like the mad hatter" dad said.

"Mad yes" Myrnin nodded. "But I didn't have a hat on".

Claire shook her head. "Not really the point".

**Come on, come on, we haven't got time for nonsense. Did you bring the books? Good. What about Last Will and Testament? Are you familiar with the symbols? Here, take this." Chalk, pressed into her hand. Myrnin moved again, fast as a grasshopper, and rolled an ancient stained chalkboard closer. He had to shove over some stacks of books to do it, which he did with cheerful disregard for how much of a mess he was making.**

Sam, almost inaudibly, whispered, "Be careful. He's dangerous when he's like this."

"He was right about that" Claire sighed.

"I am sorry Claire I was not myself" Myrnin said.

"Don't worry about it Myrnin" Claire shrugged. "I was just shaken".

Claire's parents where looking worried and confused.****

Yeah, no kidding. Claire nodded, swallowed, and smiled as Myrnin turned toward her with those crazy, delighted eyes. 

"He's not high was he?" Eve asked.

"Nope just Myrnin" Claire said before frowning" I think".

"I was just happy" Myrnin said.

**She wanted to ask what came after the manic phase, but she didn't dare.**

"I don't think you would have got and answer anyway" Shane said, darkly.

"Most likely not" Claire nodded.****

"I'll be in the other room," Sam said. Myrnin waved him off impatiently, barely sparing him a glance.

"Yes, yes, fine, go. Here. First let's start with the Egyptian inscription for asem. Asem. You know what element that represents?"

"Who came up with the name?" Eve asked.

Claire shrugged.

"I will look in to it" Myrnin said, thoughtfully.****

"Electrum," Claire said, and carefully chalked the symbol. Sort of a bowl, with a big staff through the middle. "How's that?"

"I think I saw that on the side of an alley once" Shane said.

"I bet who ever did it didn't know what it was for" Claire said.

"They likely thought it was cool" Eve said.****

"Excellent! Yes, that's it. Now, something difficult. Chesbet."

"If we ever get a dog" Shane said. "We should name it Chesbet".

"It would have to be a girl dog" Claire said.

"Why?" Michael asked.

"It means sapphire" Myrnin said.

"Oh" Shane said.****

Sapphire. That was a hard one. Claire bit her lip for a second, getting the order in her mind, and then drew it out. Circle above a double-slashed line, next to a leg, next to a thing that looked kind of like a car with no wheels over two separated circles.

"It sounds like some little kid made this entire thing up" Eve said.

Myrnin frowned at her and Michael read before they could get in to a fight.****

"No, no, no," Myrnin said, grabbed an eraser, and rubbed out the car. "Too modern. Look."

He drew it again, this time more roughly, and it still looked like a car to her.

Myrnin shock his head. "Mine had a different side to it".

"It was the same thing" Claire rolled her eyes.

"Don't start" Shane said with a smirk. "I have been waiting all day to say that".

**She copied it, twice, until he was satisfied.**

There were a lot of symbols, and he quizzed her on just about all of them, growing more and more excited. Her arm ached from holding up the chalk to the board, especially when, after she screwed up the symbol for lead, he made her repeat it a hundred times.

"You could have done fifty and he would not have notice" Eve said.

"Vampire eyes" Claire said.

"I forgot about that" Eve said.****

"We should do this on computer," she said, chalking it carefully for the eighty-ninth time. "With a drawing pad."

"Nonsense. You're lucky I don't make you inscribe it with a stylus on a wax tablet, like the old days," Myrnin snorted. "Children. Spoiled children, always playing with the shiniest toy."  


"Computers are better" Claire said.

Myrnin shock his head. "As I said, spoiled".

Oliver shook his head and ordered Michael to read.

**"Computers are more efficient!"**

"You tell him" Eve said.

"He still makes me do the same thing" Claire sighed.

"Is that why your hands are coved in white powder when you get home?" Shane asked.

"Yes" Claire nodded.****

"I can perform calculations on that abacus faster than you can solve them on your computer," Myrnin sneered.

"Or you could do it in your head" Michael pointed out.

"Abacus are funnier" Myrnin said.****

Okay, now he was pissing her off. "Prove it!"

"Oh this is getting interesting" Oliver said.

Shane, Eve and Claire looked at each other and back at Oliver.

"Creepy" Eve staged wisped, making Oliver glare at her.****

"What?"

"I was surprised" Myrnin said.

"Claire has a way of doing that" mum said.****

"Prove it." She backed off on her tone, but Myrnin wasn't looking angry; he was looking strangely interested.

"Not even Ada had spoken to me in the first meeting" Myrnin said.

"I would have thought that she would have" Claire said. "She always seemed like the type".

"She was sick then" Myrnin said, sadly. "And she changed over the years of being the way she was".

**He stared at her for a second in silence, and then he got the biggest, oddest smile she'd ever seen on the face of a vampire.**

"A very sorry excise for a vampire" Oliver said, coldly.

"And you are any better?" Myrnin said.

"Not again" Claire sighed. "Michael just read over them".****

"All right," he said. "A contest. Computer versus abacus."

She wasn't at all sure now that was a good idea, even if it had been her idea, essentially. "Um - what do I win?" More importantly, what do I lose? Making bargains was a way of life in Morganville, and it was a lot like making deals with man-eating fairies. Better be careful what you ask for.

"Very true" Shane said.****

"Your freedom," he said solemnly. His eyes were wide and guileless, his too-young face shining with honesty. "I will tell Amelie you were not suited to the work. She'll let you go about your life, such as it is."

Claire sighed. "I'm never going to be let go".****

Good prize. Too good. Claire swallowed hard. "And if I lose?"

"I don't want to know" dad said.

"Myrnin was sick" Claire said, glancing at Myrnin.

"We know dear" mum said. "We know that but we do worry".****

"Then I eat you," Myrnin said.

Mum and dad paled and Shane looked like he was ready to punch Myrnin.

"I am sorry Claire" Myrnin said.

"It's in the past" Claire said.****

With absolutely no change in expression.

"Creepy" Eve said. "And getting creeper".****

"You - you can't do that." She pulled up the sleeve on her shirt and held up her wrist so the gold bracelet caught the light.

"We are vampires and you are a human" Oliver said. "We can do as we wish".

"Not with the new laws" Claire said and to annoy Oliver even more. "Cousin".

Oliver flashed his fangs at her but didn't move from his site.****

"Don't be ridiculous," he said. "Of course I can do it. I can do anything I want, child. Without me, there is no future. No one, especially Amelie, begrudges me the occasional titbit. You're hardly large enough to qualify as a meal in any case, and besides, I'm making it well worth your while."

"And I think I would rather stay the way I was" Eve said.

"Most people would" Claire said.****

She took a step back from him. A big one. That crazy smile ... She glanced toward the door of the other room, where Sam was waiting for her. No wonder Amelie had told him to stay.

"It really wasn't a good idea looking at the door" Claire said.

"Yes it was not the best thing to have done in front of me" Myrnin nodded.****

Myrnin gave a sad, theatrical sigh. 

"Where you ever in the theatre?" Eve asked.

Myrnin looked surprised at being asked. "Yes I was in a few over the years".

"I thought so" Eve nodded.

**"Mortals simply aren't what they used to be," he said. "A thousand years ago, you would have bartered your immortal soul for a crust of stale bread. Now I can't even get you to gamble at all, even for your freedom. Really, people have become so ... boring. So, no bet? Really?"**

"I'm not really a betting person" Claire said. "In the best of times".

"And you have the worst poker face" Shane laughed.

"Thanks" Claire rolled her eyes.****

She shook her head. His expression fell into utter disappointment. "All right," he said. "Then you will write me an essay for tomorrow on the history of alchemy. I can't expect it to be scholarly, but I do expect you to understand the basis of what it is that I am trying to teach you."

Dad looked interested. "How long have you been leaning Claire?"

"From that day" Claire shrugged. "Myrnin got me a few books in my room I could show them to you later".

"I am interested alchemy for a long time now" dad said.

"myrnin and I could teach you a few symbols" Claire said.

Dad nodded.****

"You're teaching me alchemy?"

He seemed surprised, and looked around his laboratory. "Can you not see what I'm doing here?"

"But alchemy - its crap. I mean, it's like magic, not science."

"I thought you didn't believe in magic" Shane said.

"I don't" Claire said. "It's just another word for it". ****

"Alchemy's accomplishments are sadly forgotten, and yes, magic is an excellent description for things that you have no basis to understand. As for science - " Myrnin made a rude noise. His eyes had taken on that hectic shine again. "Science is a method, not a religion, yet it can be just as close-minded. Open minds here, Claire. Always open minds.

"You're the one that got her thinking like that" Eve said. "Is so annoying".

"I'm not that bad" Claire said.

Michael, Eve and Shane looked at her.

"Thanks guys" Claire said.

**Question everything, accept nothing as fact until you prove it for yourself. Yes?"**

She nodded hesitantly, more afraid to disagree with him than convinced. Myrnin grinned at her and slapped her back with stinging force.

"Weak human girl" Claire said.

"Sorry" Myrnin said not as if he really was.****

"That's my girl," he said. 

Shane glared at him.

"Shane stop trying to kill Myrnin with your eyes" Claire said.

"It could be worse" Eve said. "He could be un-dressing Myrnin with his eyes".

Nobody spoke.

Michael after a moment went back to reading.

**"Now. What do you know of this theory of Schr?dinger's? The one about the cat?"**

Myrnin didn't go weird until the very end of her time with him, when he was - she thought - getting tired.

""yes, I got tired easer then" Myrnin said.

"At least you're better now" mum smiled at Myrnin.

"Your very kind" Myrnin smiled at her.

**She had to admit, there was something fun about working in his lab; he had so much passion, so much enthusiasm for everything. Even for scaring her silly. **

Myrnin laughed. "Your face was very amusing".

"You just had to" Claire sighed.

Myrnin was still chuckling to he's self when Michael read.

**He was like a little kid, all nervous energy and fiddling hands, quick to laugh, quick to cut her down if she made a mistake. He liked to mock, not correct. He thought if she had to figure it out for herself, she'd learn it properly.**

"Very correct" Myrnin nodded.

"I had a teacher in high school for a mouth that was like that" Claire said. "He made English fun and funny".

"We liked him" mum smiled.****

She checked her watch and found it was almost eight o'clock - late. She was supposed to be home by now. Myrnin was ignoring her, temporarily, as she copied out tables of incomprehensible symbols from a book he said was so rare his was the only copy left. 

"Oh it is" Myrnin nodded.

"You know you could make a lot of money writing and selling copy's of that book" Shane said.

"We should look in to that" Claire nodded.

**She yawned, stretched, and said, "I need to be going."**

He had his eye fixed to what looked like a clunky, ancient microscope. "Already?"

Claire winced. "I remember this".

"I was told about it" Michael said. "Or you could say warned".****

"It's late. I should go home."

Myrnin straightened, stared at her, and she saw the storm forming in his expression. "You are dictating to me now?" he snapped. "Who is the master? Who is the student?"

Both Claire and Myrnin winced and Shane glared at Myrnin.

"Don't worry mum, dad" Claire said. "I was ok".

Mum and dad nodded.

**"I - sorry, but I can't stay here all night!"**

Myrnin walked toward her, and she couldn't even recognize him. No more manic energy, no more humour, no more sharp, brilliant anger. He looked troubled and clouded.

"Yes that is how you feel when I lost myself" Myrnin nodded, sadly.****

"Home," he repeated. "Home is where the heart is. Why don't you leave yours here? I'll take very good care of it."

Mum and dad blinked in shock.

"Don't worry we find something later that will help Myrnin be more himself" Claire told them.

Mum and dad nodded.****

"M-my - heart?" She dropped the pen and backed up, putting a big lab table full of chemical equipment between them. Myrnin bared his teeth and put down his fangs. 

"How rude of you Myrnin" Oliver said.

"Your one to talk" Shane said.

"Did I ask you Collin's?" Oliver glared at Shane.

Michael read before things got out of hand.

**Discovery Channel. King Cobra. Oh God, can he spit venom or something?**

Claire blushed.

**His eyes flared bright, fuelled with something that looked to her like ... fear.**

"Don't run," he said, and sounded annoyed. "I hate it when they run.

"It is such a waste of time" Myrnin said.

"Ok I'm not going to think too much about that" Claire said.

**Now, tell me what you're doing here!" he demanded. "Why do you keep following me? Who are you?"**

Mum and dad looked sadly over at Myrnin.

"You poor thing" mum said, making Myrnin look surprised and Shane glare.****

"It's Claire, Myrnin. I'm your apprentice. I'm supposed to be here, remember?"

That was the wrong thing to say, and she had no idea why. Myrnin stopped, and the light in his eyes intensified to insanity. Ugly, and very scary. When he moved, it was a smooth, sinuous glide. "My apprentice," he said. "So I own you, then. I can do as I wish."

King cobra.

Eve giggled.

"What's so funny?" Michael asked.

"King cobra" Eve giggled.****

"Sam!" Claire yelled, and bolted for the stairs.

"Another bad idea" Claire sighed.****

She didn't get more than two steps. Myrnin came over the table, scattering glass instruments to shatter in glittering sprays on the floor, and she felt his cold, impossibly strong hands close on her ankles and jerk backwards. 

"I thought I saw a burse on your ankle" Shane said.

"I wish I could have told you" Claire sighed.

"It's fine" Shane smiled at Claire.

**She flailed for something to grab onto, but it was only a tower of books, and it collapsed as she fell.**

She hit the floor hard enough to put the world on a sparkling, unsteady hold for a few seconds, and when she blinked away the stars Myrnin had taken hold of her shoulders and was staring down at her, inches away.

"There goes the bubble" Eve said.****

"Don't," she said. "Myrnin, don't. I'm your friend! I won't hurt you!"

She didn't know why she said it, but it must have been the right thing to do. His eyes widened, white showing all around, and then the glitter of crazy was replaced by a flood of tears.

Half the room looked surprised.

"I have seen Myrnin worse" Claire sighed.

**He patted her cheek, soft and confused, and the fangs folded up in his mouth. "Dear child," he said. "What are you doing here? Is Amelie making you come here? She shouldn't. You're far too young and kind. You should tell her you won't come back. **

"I would like to see that happen" Shane said.

"I was just thinking that" Eve nodded.

**I don't want to hurt you, but I will." **

Oliver rolled his eyes.

"And how long did it take you to nearly kill her?" Shane asked.

"We talked about this Shane" Claire sighed. "Please stop bring it up".

Shane muttered something under his breath.

**He tapped his forehead. "This is betraying me. This stupid, stupid flesh." The tapping became violent slaps to his forehead, and tears broke free to run down his cheeks. "I need to teach someone, but not you. Not you, Claire. Too young. Too small. You bring out the beast."**

"Like you don't..." Shane started to say but stopped at the look from Claire.****

He stood up and wandered away, tasking over the broken glass, righting the fallen books. As if she'd ceased to exist. Claire sat up and rolled to her feet, shaky and scared.

"What happened to that Sam?" dad asked.

"He was there" Claire said. "But he didn't step in to stop Myrnin".

"Then what was the point of him being there?" Shane asked.

"I think he was there to stop Myrnin saying too much" Claire said. "Not that really stoped Myrnin".****

Sam was standing just a few feet away. She hadn't seen or heard him approach, and he hadn't acted to save her. His face was tense, his eyes uneasy.

"It must have been hard for Sam to watch" Eve said.****

"He's sick," Claire said.

"Sick, sick, sick, yes, I am," Myrnin said. He had his head in his hands now, as if it hurt him. "We're all sick."

"Does that mean that you, Michael were sick as well?" mum asked.

"Yes but not as badly as the older vampires" Michael said.****

"What's he talking about?" Claire turned to Sam. "Nothing." He shook his head. "Don't listen to him."

Myrnin looked up and bared his teeth. His eyes were fierce, but they were sane. Mostly sane, anyway. "They won't tell you the truth, little morsel, but I will. We're dying. Seventy years ago - "

"It was very rude of Sam to stop me talking" Myrnin said.

"I bet Sam would have been sorry about it" Claire said, without much thought.****

Sam moved Claire out of his way, and for the first time since she'd met him, Sam actually looked threatening. "Myrnin, shut up!"

"I don't think I ever saw Sam look threatening" Eve said thoughtfully.

"I did" Michael said. "But only when I was a kid".

"What happened?" Claire asked.

"I was too young to really remember" Michael shrugged.****

"No," Myrnin sighed. "It's time for talking. I've been shut up enough." He looked up, and his eyes were red-rimmed and full of tears. "Oh, little girl, do you understand? My race is dying. My race is dying and I don't know how to stop it."

Mum dad gave Myrnin a sad smile.****

Claire's mouth opened and closed, but she couldn't find anything to say. Sam turned toward her, fury still radiating off him like heat. "Ignore him," he said. "He doesn't know what he's saying. 

"Most of the time that was true" Myrnin nodded. "But not that time".

**We should go, before he remembers what he was about to do. Or forgets what he shouldn't."**

Claire cast a look back over her shoulder at Myrnin, who was holding a broken glass pipe in his hands, trying to fit the two pieces back together. When it wouldn't go, he dropped it and covered his face with both hands. She could see his shoulders shaking. "Can't - shouldn't somebody help him?"

"You're too nice for your own good" Eve sighed.

"What would you have said?" Claire asked.

Eve didn't answer.****

"There's no help," Sam said in a voice flat with anger. "There's no cure. And you're not coming back here again if I can do anything about it."

"You say it Sam" Shane said.

Everyone shock their heads at him.

"So who's next?" Michael asked.

"I think it's my turn" Shane said taking the book.

"**Chapter 6**" Shane read.

_**Ok so I hope you liked it. Next chapter should be up soon but it may take a little longer to writ because it's a lot longer than the other chapters. Please review :)**_


	6. Chapter 6

"You say it Sam" Shane said.

Everyone shock their heads at him.

"So who's next?" Michael asked.

"I think it's my turn" Shane said taking the book.

"**Chapter 6**" Shane read.

**Claire kept her silence for about half the ride home, and Sam didn't offer anything either. The pressure of questions finally was too much for her. "He was telling the truth, wasn't he?" she asked. **

"I always tell the truth" Myrnin said.

"I don't know how many times you have told me something that was not the truth" Claire rolled her eyes. "Just like this time".

"Ok fine I tell most of the truth" Myrnin sighed.

**"There's some kind of disease. Amelie tried to make me think that not making more vampires was her choice, but that's not really true, is it? You can't. She's the only one who isn't sick."**

"You worked that out fast" Eve said.

"It's not really the best idea to let me think too much in to things "Claire shrugged.****

Sam's face went tight and still in the glow of the dashboard lights. Sitting in the car was like travelling through space; the dark-tinted windows refused even starlight, so it was just the two of them in their own pocket universe.

"It is a little odd the first time" Michael nodded.

"At lest you can see outside" Claire pointed out.

"Sorry" Michael said. "I forget sometimes".

**He had the radio on, and it was playing classical music, something light and sweet.**

"Most classical music is light and sweet" Eve said. "It's just so boring".

"I bet it's pretty big here" Claire said.

"For the past years it has been" Michael said.****

"No," he said. "She's sick, too. We all are. Myrnin's been searching for the cause - and the cure - for seventy years now, but it's too late now. He's too far gone, and the chance that anyone else could help him through it is too small.

"Is that why you have Claire working with you?" dad asked Myrnin.

"It was in the beginning" Myrnin nodded. "But Claire helps me keep the town going".

"The books will likely tell you" Claire said.

**I can't let her sacrifice you like this, Claire. I told you that he's had five assistants. I don't want you to become another statistic."**

"What if he doesn't find the cure?" Claire asked. "How long -?"

"Claire, you need to forget you ever heard any of this. I mean it. There are a lot of secrets in Morganville, but this one could kill you. 

"In many different ways" Claire sighed.

"Or something worse" Shane said thinking about Claire being made a vampire.

**Say nothing, understand? Not to your friends, and not to Amelie. Do you understand?"**

His intensity was even more terrifying than Myrnin's, because it was so controlled. She nodded.

It didn't stop the questions from swirling in her brain.

"Douse anything stop that?" Eve asked.

Claire really tried to stop herself from blushing but she knew the vampires could tell.****

Sam let her out at the curb and watched her until she was inside the house - it was full dark, and there were plenty of hunting vampires out on a clear, cool night like this. Nobody would hurt her -probably - but Sam wasn't in the mood to take chances.

Claire shut the door and locked it, leaned against the wood for a long few seconds, and tried to get her head together. She knew her friends would bombard her with questions - where had she been, was she crazy being out alone in the dark - but she couldn't answer them, not without violating some order from either Amelie or Sam.

"Like we would have said something" Shane said.

"Amelie and Sam would have worked it out" Claire sighed.

"And you should keep that in mind Mr. Collins" Amelie said.****

They're dying. It seemed impossible; the vampires seemed so strong, so frightening. But she'd seen it. She'd seen the way Myrnin was decaying, and how afraid Sam was.

"Think about that happening to Michael or some other vampire we know" Claire said. "I had to try and stop it".

"Thank you for thinking of me" Oliver rolled his eyes.

**Even Amelie, perfect icy Amelie, was doomed.**

Wasn't that a good thing? And if it was, why did she feel so sick?

"You have so much empathy for everyone" mum smiled. ****

Claire took a few more deep breaths, willed her mind to shut up for a while, and pushed off to walk down the hall.

She didn't get far. There was stuff piled everywhere. It took her a second, but she recognized it with a shock of horror. "Oh no," she whispered. "Shane's stuff." 

"Oh I forgot that it was that night" Shane said.

"Hay that's the night you nearly moved out" Eve said and Shane nodded.

**It was blocking the hallway. Claire shoved a path through the boxes and suitcases piled there. Oh, crap. There was the Playstation, unplugged and looking mournful, in a heap with its game controllers.**

"Never a good thing to see" Shane shook his head.

"You would think that" Claire said.****

"Hey? Hey guys? What's going on?" Claire called, edged around the barricades. "Anybody here?"

"Claire?" Michael's shadow appeared at the end of the hall. "Where the hell have you been?"

"We were all worried" Michael said.

"Thank you for just being there" mum smiled at Michael.****

"I - got held up late at the lab," she said. Which wasn't a lie. "What's happening?"

"Would war three" Eve said.

"More like six" Michael said.****

"Shane says he's moving out," Michael said. He looked deeply angry, but it was covering up hurt, too. 

"Michael can be easy to read when you know what to look for" Claire said.

"I wish I could read him better then I do" Eve said.

"You don't need to" Michael smiled at Eve.

**"Glad you're here. Maybe you can talk some sense into him. Eve's not having much luck."**

"Eve next time you try to keep someone from leaving, don't yell at them" Shane said.

"Had to try and get you to listen" Eve shrugged.****

Claire heard the indistinct buzz of voices upstairs. Eve's voice, high and strident. Shane's rumbling low. There was about a sixty second delay, and then Shane came down the stairs carrying a box. His face was pale but determined, and although he hesitated for a second when he saw Claire was back, he kept coming down.

"No hello?" Claire joked.

"Sorry" Shane said. "I was upset and not really thinking right".

"I know" Claire said.****

"Seriously, dumbass, what the hell are you doing?" Eve demanded from the top of the stairs. She darted around and got into his path, forcing him to back up and try to get around her. "Yo, village idiot! Talking to you!"

"I think half of Morganville could hear you" Shane said.

Eve rolled his eyes. "Funny Collin's".****

"You want to live here with him, fine," Shane said tightly. "I'm going. I've had enough."

Mum and dad were shaking their heads.****

"You're moving at night? Do you have a head wound?"

"No he was just born that way" Michael joked.

"Funny Michael" Shane said.****

He faked Eve to the right and moved past her to the left.

And ran into Claire, who didn't move. She didn't say anything, and after a few seconds of silence he said, "I'm sorry. Got to do it. I told you."

Claire sighed.****

"Is this about your dad?" she asked. "About this prejudice you've got against Michael now?"

"I don't think this will go down well" Myrnin said.

"Like you would know" Shane said, under his breath.****

"Prejudice? Jesus, Claire, you act like he's still really Michael. 

"But he is the same Michael" Eve said.

"I'm know Eve" Shane said. "Sorry man".

"It's in the past" Michael shrugged.

**Well, he's not. He's one of them. I'm done with this crap. If I need to I'll go break some laws and get my ass thrown in jail. Better that than living here, looking at him - " Shane stopped dead and shut his eyes for a second. "You don't understand. You just don't understand, Claire. You didn't grow up here."**

"But Eve did and so you should listen to her" Claire said.

Shane nodded.****

"But I did," Eve said, stepping up closer. "And I don't get your paranoid bullshit either. Michael hasn't hurt anybody! Especially you, you prick. So lay off."

"Sorry Shane but I'm on Eve's side" Claire said.

Shane nodded and looked at the floor.****

"I am," Shane said. "I'm leaving."

Claire didn't move out of his way. "What about us?"

"what do you mean?' dad asked.

"You will know soon" Claire sighed.****

"You want to go with me?"

"You had better not have said yes" dad frowned.

"Don't worry" Claire sighed.****

She slowly shook her head, and saw the pain in his face for a split-second before it turned hard again.

"Then we've got nothing to talk about. And sorry to break it to you but there's no 'us.' Get it straight, Claire, it's been fun, but you're not really my type - "

Mum, dad and Myrnin glared at Shane.

"How dare you say something like that to my girl" dad said.

"Mum, dad please stop" Claire sighed. "Shane was just mad he didn't mean it".

Mum and dad still kept glaring at Shane and Myrnin frowned.****

Michael moved. He smacked the box out of Shane's hands, and it flew halfway across the room, skidded across the wood floor the rest of the way, and slammed into the baseboard, where it tipped over and spilled things all over the place.

"This is going to be interesting" Oliver said.

"For you maybe" Claire said.****

"Don't," he said, and grabbed Shane by the shoulders and flattened him against the nearest convenient wall. "Don't you disrespect her. Be an asshole to me, fine. Be an asshole to Eve if you want to, she can give it right back. But don't you take it out on Claire. 

"Thank you" mum said.

"I was just doing what I would have done if Claire was my little sister" Michael said.

**I've had enough of your crap, Shane." He stopped and took a breath, but the anger wasn't burning out of him, not yet. "You want to go, get the hell out, but you'd better take a good hard look at yourself, my man. Yeah, your sister died. Your mom died. Your dad's a violent, prejudiced asshole.**

"I could think of a few other words to call him" Shane said.

"I really don't want to know" Claire and Eve said.

**Your life has sucked. But you don't get to be the victim anymore. We keep cutting you breaks, and you keep screwing up, and it's enough. I'm not letting you whine anymore about how your life sucks worse than ours."**

Shane's face went dead white, then red.

"Not good" Eve said.

"We worked as much out" Myrnin said, bored.****

And he socked Michael in the face. It was a solid, painful punch, and Claire winced and covered her mouth in sympathy, moving back.

"I did the same" Eve nodded.****

Michael didn't move. Didn't even react. He just stared into Shane's eyes.

"I am a vampire" Michael shrugged. "I didn't really feel it much".****

"You're just like your dad," he said. "You want to stake me now? Cut my head off? Bury me out back? That work for you, friend?"

Shane winced but kept staring at the floor.****

"Yes!" Shane screamed, right in his face, and there was something so frightening in his eyes that Claire couldn't move. Couldn't breathe.

"Claire how many times do I have to tell you that breathing is good for you" Myrnin shock he's head.

"Well I'm sorry" Claire rolled her eyes. ****

Michael let him go, walked over, and picked up a couple of things from the pile that had spilled out of the box Shane had been carrying out.

A pointed stake.

"Oh dear" mum said.****

A wicked sharp hunting knife.

"Oh dear is one word for it" Eve said.****

"You came prepared," he said, and tossed them to Shane, who caught them out of the air. "Go for it."

Eve screamed and threw herself in front of Michael, who gently but firmly moved her out of the way.

"Sorry but I was trying to make a point" Michael said.

"I get that now" Eve sighed.****

"Go on," he said. "We do this now, or we end up doing it later. You want to move out so you can kill me with a clear conscience. Why wait? Come on, man, do it. I won't fight."

Shane turned the knife in his hand, the edge slashing the light with every agitated move. Claire felt frozen, winter-cold, unable to think of anything to say or do. What had happened? How did things get this bad? 

"How can you think so calmly?" Eve asked.

"I was just trying to think logically" Claire shrugged.

**What -**

Shane took a step toward Michael, a sudden long lunge, and Michael didn't move. His eyes - they weren't cold at all, and they weren't vampire-scary, either. They were human, and they were scared.

"Did you put that being scared on or what?" Shane asked.

"Some of it" Michael shrugged.****

For a long breath, nobody moved, and then Michael said, "I know you feel like I betrayed you, but I didn't. This wasn't about you. It was for me, it was so I didn't have to be trapped here anymore. I was dying here. I was buried alive."

"I'm sorry I said all the things that I said" Shane said.

Michael nodded. "It's fine".****

Shane's face twisted, as if that hunting knife had slid into his own guts. "Maybe you should have stayed dead." He raised the stake in his right hand.

"Shane, no!" Eve was screaming, trying to get to them, but Michael was holding her off. She turned on him in a fury. "Dammit, stop it! You don't really want to die!"

"I had only just got my life back" Michael said. "I didn't want die no". ****

"No," Michael said. "I don't. He knows I don't."

"Your right about that" Shane nodded.****

Shane paused, trembling. Claire watched his face, his eyes, but she couldn't tell what he was thinking. What he was feeling. It was just a face, and she didn't know him at all.

"You were my friend," Shane said. He sounded lost. "You were my best friend. How screwed up is this?"

"Just about everything in this town is screwed up" Eve said.

"Your right about that" Shane nodded.****

Michael didn't say anything. He took a step forward, took the knife and stake out of Shane's hands, and pulled him into a hug.

And this time, Shane didn't resist.

"I most likely would have if I had of been thinking" Shane said.

"I know" Michael said.****

"Asshole," Michael sighed, and slapped his back.

"Yeah," Shane muttered, stepped back, and scrubbed at his eyes with the heel of his hand. "Whatever. You started it." He looked around and focused on Claire. "You. You were supposed to be home already."

"You just had to remember" Claire sighed.

"You were over two hours late" Shane said.

"Sorry" Claire sighed.****

Crap. She'd hoped they'd forget all about her late arrival, in the explosion of Shane's freak-out. But of course, he'd try to find a way to shift attention away, and there she was, a sitting duck.

"Sorry" Shane said.****

"Right," Eve said. "Guess you forgot the number to call and tell us you weren't dead in a ditch."

"Somehow I think you're talking about that girl being killed" mum said.

"Yes but I was worried about Claire" Eve shrugged.

"Thanks' Eve" Claire said.****

"I'm fine," Claire said.

"Amy wasn't. She was murdered and stuffed in our trash can, so excuse me if I got a little bit worried that you might be dead." Eve crossed her arms, her dark stare getting even more fierce. 

"I didn't look that mad" Eve said. "Did I?"

"Sorry Eve but you sort of did" Michael said.

**"I already checked out there for you, before Shane decided to pull this crap."**

Oh, man. Somehow, in all of the stress of her afternoon with Myrnin, Claire had forgotten about Amy's death. Of course Eve was angry; not so much angry, really, as plain terrified.

"You think?" Eve rolled her eyes.

"Agene I had other things on my mind" Claire sighed.****

Claire didn't dare meet Shane's gaze. She looked at Michael instead, helplessly. "I'm sorry," she said. "I got - I was at the lab, and - I should have called, I guess."

"Yes you should have" Shane frowned. "And I wish you would do that when you're going to be late home".

"I get court up on things or Myrnin gets me to do something and I lose track of time" Claire sighed.****

"And you walked home? In the dark?" Another question she had to avoid. She just shrugged. "You know what we call pedestrians in Morganville? Mobile blood banks." Michael sounded cold, too. Cold and angry. "You scared the shit out of us. That's not like you, Claire. What happened?"

"A mad Michael is scary" Claire said and the others nodded.

"You're telling me" Shane nodded.

"I'm not that bad" Michael shrugged.****

Shane moved to her side and she felt a moment of relief that at least he wasn't angry at her. But then he yanked her shirt away from her neck on the left, then on the right, an efficient rough search that surprised her too much to fight him. 

"Don't you think Michael would have told you" Claire said. "If he had smelt blood".

"I forgot about that" Shane said.

**He skinned up her right sleeve all the way to the elbow and turned her arm to inspect it.**

As he reached for the left, she felt an electric bolt of alarm. The bracelet. Oh God.

"Sorry for making you panicky" Shane said.

"It's ok" Claire said.****

She yanked free and shoved him back. "Hey!" she said. "I'm fine, okay? I'm fine! Fang-free!"

"Then show me," Shane said. His eyes were steady and scared, and that broke her heart. "C'mon, Claire. Prove it."

"I hate it when people try to make me do things" Claire said.****

"Why do I have to prove anything to you?" She knew she was wrong, and it made her stupidly angry that he cared so much. "You don't own me, like some vampire!

"That is true" Claire nodded. "No one owns me not any vampire and not even you Shane".

Shane nodded but didn't say anything.

**I just said I'm fine! Why can't you just trust me?"**

"Yes boy you should trust Claire" dad frowned.

Shane nodded.****

She would have done anything to take it back, but it was too late, and it hit him like a punch in the face. He's been hurt so much. Why did I do that? Why ...

"You were upset honey" mum said.

"I still shouldn't have said it" Claire sighed.

"It's fine" Shane said.****

Michael was there, all of a sudden and stepped in between them. He threw a glance over his shoulder at Shane. "I'll do it."

"I had a feeling that I knew why you didn't want us to look at your wrist" Michael said. "And I was right".

"I should have told you all beforehand" Claire sighed.

"Don't worry about it" Eve said.

**He was blocking Eve and Shane's view. Before Claire could do anything to stop him - as if she could do anything - he grabbed her left hand and pulled the sleeve up to her elbow.**

He stared at the gold bracelet for a paralysing second before turning her arm first one way, then the other. Then pulling her sleeve back down over the tell-tale jewellery evidence.

"I don't think I would call it jewellery" Eve said.

"More like a dog collar" Shane said.

"Don't start this again" Claire sighed.****

"She's fine," he said, and met her eyes. "She's telling the truth. I'd know if a vampire had bitten her. I'd feel it."

"And smell it" Claire said.

"That to" Michael nodded.****

Shane's mouth opened, then closed. He took another step back, stared at her for a second, then walked away.

"I knew you were hiding something" Shane said.

"You should have asked" Claire said.

"But I knew that you wouldn't have told me the truth" Shane shrugged.

**Eve called, "Hey, how about taking some of your crap back upstairs, if you're planning on staying?"**

"Later," Shane snapped, and went upstairs without looking back.

"Temper, temper" Eve joked.

"Very funny Eve" Shane rolled his eyes.****

"I'd better go talk to him," Claire said. Michael kept hold of her arm.

"No," he said. "First, you'd better talk to me."

"Yes a good idea" dad said.

"I should have done it the first time" Claire sighed.****

He hustled her toward the kitchen. Behind them, Eve said, "Just another great family dinner. Whatever! I'm taking the last hot dog!"

"Hay for lunch we should have hot dogs" Shane said.

"Fine" Eve shrugged. "But you're making them".****

Even with the kitchen door shut, Michael wasn't taking any chances. He pulled Claire along with him to the pantry, opened the door, and turned on the light. "Inside," he ordered.

"Sorry" Michael said. "I could have been a little nicer about it".

"You were just worried" Claire shrugged.

**She stepped in, and he shut the door after her. It was cramped with two people, and it smelled like old spices and vinegar, from where Shane had dropped the bottle a few weeks back. **

"It was all Eve fault" Shane said.

"How?" Eve asked.

"You scared me" Shane said.

"Oh now I remember that" Claire smiled.

**Michael's voice dropped to a fierce hiss. "What the hell do you think you're doing?"**

"What I had to," she said. She was shaking all over, but she wouldn't let Michael intimidate her.

"Sorry if it came off that way" Michael said.

Claire shrugged.

**She was tired, and besides, everybody seemed to be trying to intimidate her these days. She was small, she wasn't weak. "It was the only way. Amelie - "**

"You should have talked to me. Talked to us."

"He's right about that" Eve nodded. "We would have helped".

"I had to do it" Claire sighed.****

"Like you came clean with us, when you were a ghost? And did you have a house meeting before you decided to go all the way to vampire?" Claire shot back.

"That's low a blow" Shane said.

"I was tired" Claire said.

**"Right. Well, you're not the only one who can make choices, Michael. This was mine, I made it, I'll live with it. And it'll keep all of you safe."**

"Who says?" Michael asked bluntly. "Amelie? You're trusting vampires now?"

"And what are you?" Eve asked. "A lost dog?"

"I said sort of the same thing" Claire smiled.****

She didn't look away from his big blue eyes. "I trust you."

He suppressed a smile. "Dumbass."

Mum and dad frowned.

"What a nice thing to call me" Claire joked.

"Hay you gave it right back" Michael said.****

"Dork." She shoved him, just a little, and he let her do it. He even pretended to stagger, although she didn't imagine vampires got knocked off balance very often, except by other vampires. 

"True" Myrnin nodded. "And even then it can be very hard".

**"Michael, she didn't give me any choice. Shane's dad - even though he left, he did damage. Shane wasn't going to be trusted here, and you know what happens if - "**

"If they don't trust him," Michael said sombrely. "Yeah. I know. Look, don't worry about Shane. I'll protect him. I told you - "

"You were still only young" Oliver said.

"I did point that out" Claire shrugged. ****

"You may not be able to. Look, no offense, but you're only been a vampire for a couple of weeks. I have library books that have been out longer. You can't promise - "

Michael reached out and put one cool finger across her lips, stilling them instantly. His blue eyes were intense, narrow, and very focused.

"It's creepy when you do that" Eve said.

"I'm not even going to ask" Shane said.****

"Shhhh," he whispered, and turned out the light.

"I really hate the dark" Claire said.

"You did when you were younger to" mum said, making Claire blush.

"Thanks mum" Claire said, still blushing.****

Claire heard the kitchen door thump, and then the hard-heeled clonk of Eve's shoes crossing the wood floor. "Hello? Helllloooooooo? Great. Why do all my housemates sulk like little girls or vanish when the dishes are dirty? If you can hear me, Michael Glass, I'm talking to you!"

"More like yelling" Shane said.

"I'm not that bad" Eve said.

"That's what you think" Shane rolled his eyes.****

Claire snorted, almost laughed. 

So did half the room.

"I forgot that you said you did that" Claire laughed.

**Michael's hand closed over her mouth, stifling her.**

"Good idea" Shane nodded. "But next time try not to put your hands on Claire so much".

Everyone rolled their eyes.

**He tugged on her arm, and she followed him, moving carefully so as not to knock anything off the shelf.**

"That would have been a dead giveaway" Eve said.

"It really would have been" Claire nodded.

**She heard the scrape of the door opening at the rear of the pantry, the tiny little bolt-hole, and bent down to go through it. The other side was pitch black, not even the tiny crack of light that the pantry had enjoyed, and Claire felt a flutter of panic.**

"What did you think Michael was going to do? Shane asked. "Bite you?"

"No but I just really hate dark creepy places" Claire said.

"Same" Eve nodded.

**Michael's hand pushed her onward, and she stepped hesitantly into the close, thick dark. Behind her, she heard him close the door with a very soft click, and bright electric light flooded over the floor.**

"At least you can now see" Myrnin said.

"That is a big plus" Claire agreed.****

"Here," Michael said, and handed her the flashlight. "She might come looking for us here, but not for a while."

"You know me to well" Eve said.

"I should hope so" Michael said.****

It was a secret hidey-hole, one that Claire had been shoved into on her very first morning in the Glass House; no exits, only the one entrance.

"Not really the best morning" Claire said.

"We would have put you in upstairs but it would have been too hard to do with the police there" Shane said.

"I know" Claire shrugged. "I still don't like the room".

**She'd thought from the beginning it looked like someplace a vampire might stash a couple of handy coffins, but it was empty. And as far as she knew, Michael slept on a Serta.**

"I know I have seen to many movies" Claire said when it looked like Myrnin was going to speak.****

"I meant to ask you. What is this?"

"I think Michael said it was a root cellar or something" Shane said.

"That's because it is" Claire said. "Michael is about to tell me".****

"Root cellar," he said. "This house was built before refrigerators, and ice deliveries were only so-so. This was where they kept most of their vegetables."

"It would have been a good place for a vampire hid out" Eve said.

"Funny I'm about to say the same thing" Claire said.****

"So ... not a vampire hideout?"

"Weird" Eve said.****

Michael stretched his long legs out with a sigh and leaned against the wall. God, he was pretty. 

"Why don't I get called pretty?" Shane asked. "Both Myrnin and Michael have been called pretty but not me".

"you're a different pretty" Claire said.

**No wonder Eve was willing to overlook the lack of pulse. **

"And I love him to" Eve said.

"Not back then" Claire said. "Remember it was after the feast?"

"I still loved him then" Eve said.

**"Not so far as I've ever known, but the vampires in Morganville never really had to hide. Only the humans did."**

"So it could have been a human hide out?" dad asked.

"It's not much of a hide out if the vampires know about it" Claire pointed out.****

Which wasn't what they were here to talk about, she supposed. She crossed her arms and felt the bracelet bite into the skin of her wrist under the shirt. 

"I hate it when it did that" Claire said, rubbing her wrist.

**"Whatever lecture you were going to give me, it's too late. I signed, it's done, I've got the souvenir bracelet." Which made her suddenly, strangely want to cry. "Michael - "**

"What's she asking you to do?" Which was so right-on that she felt the pressure of tears behind her eyes and in her nose get even higher.

"Why is it that when I talk to you Michael I end up crying or getting angry?" Claire asked.

Michael shrugged. "Don't ask me".****

"Um ... " She couldn't tell him, Amelie and Sam had both made it clear. "It's just extra schoolwork. She wants me to study some things."

"That just made me more worried" Michael said.

"Sorry but I couldn't tell you the truth" Claire sighed. ****

"What things?" Michael's voice got sharp and worried. "Claire - "

"It's nothing. Science stuff.

"That is part of the truth" Claire said.

"Yes but you left a big part out" Michael said.

**I would have probably been doing it anyway, but it's just - it's a lot more study, and I don't know how I'm going to - "Keep it from Shane. Because she had to, right? Bad enough he hated Michael for being a vampire, what was he going to think about her, selling herself to Amelie? **

"Good question" dad frowned.

**"I just don't know how I'm going to do all this."**

And suddenly, she was crying. 

Claire blushed. "It was a bad day".

"And not the last one" Eve said.

**She didn't mean to, but there it was, boiling out of her. She expected Michael to do the Shane thing, come and comfort her, but he didn't. **

"What was up with you that day?" Eve asked.

"I was trying to make a point" Michael said.

**He sat right where he was and watched her. When her sobs died down, and she swiped her hands across her wet cheeks, he said, "Finished?"**

"That's such a guy thing to say" Claire rolled her eyes.

Michael looked down at he's self. "And your point is?"

Claire shook her head.****

She gulped and nodded.

"You made the choice, now you want to have it both ways - the benefits, but not the consequences. You can't, Claire. It's coming home to roost, and you'd better handle it now rather than later." 

"You where right Michael" Claire nodded.

"I'm glade you believed me" Michael said.

**Michael's tone softened, just a little. "Look, I'm not an asshole, I know how scared you are. But you're a player in this town now. You're not the fragile little thing we took in for protection.**

"Things were so much simpler back then" Claire sighed.

"A lot less worry in my case" Shane said.

**You're trying to protect us. That means you may not be as well liked anymore, and you're going to have to sack up about that."**

"I have had that my whole life" Claire said. "Even when I was a kid in the playground".

"It wasn't that bad" mum said.

"Mum I was bashed up and put in the hospital" Claire said.

**"What?" She felt dazed. Somehow, this wasn't how she'd expected all this to go. Especially Michael's cool, challenging look and the lack of hugging.**

"Sorry" Michael said.****

"Signing the contract isn't the last choice you're going to have to make," he said. "It's the choices you make from now on that show whether you did the right thing or not." He stood up, pale and strong and as gorgeous as an angel in the glow of Claire's flashlight. "And stop lying to me. You ought to get off to a better start."

"Like that will ever happen" Claire sighed. "But I did sort of lie to few people and even a vampire or two".

"That's my girl" Shane smiled.****

"I - what?"

"A little surprised are we?" Eve said.****

"You said what Amelie has you doing is just more studying," he said grimly. "And I can tell when you're lying.

"How?" dad asked.

"Your heart beats faster" Michael shrugged.

**No, I'm not going to ask, because I can tell it scares you, but just remember, vampires can tell, all right?"**

"Good advice" Myrnin nodded.****

He swung the door open and ducked out. Claire stared after him, open-mouthed, but by the time she'd scrambled through and switched off the flashlight, Michael was already gone, out of the pantry. Crap. It's going to look like we were ...

Claire and Michael blushed.

"I don't even want to think about it" Claire said.

"Same" Michael nodded.****

What? Who could believe Michael would be snacking on an underage girl in the root cellar?

"Your mind is a lot dirtier now days" Eve said.

"It's a scary thought" Claire said.****

Still, Claire eased open the pantry door and checked to be sure the coast was clear before she dashed out of the kitchen and up the stairs. Michael was sitting on the couch, Eve curled next to him with her head on his chest. 

"That was fast" Shane said.

"I was their first" Eve shrugged.

**They were watching something on TV, and Eve's gaze followed Claire as she hurried past them, mumbling an apology.**

"You looked sort of freaked" Eve said.

"I was" Claire said. "In a way".****

She stopped on the stairs and looked back at them. Two people she cared about, wrapped in a moment of warmth and happiness.

Michael was a vampire, and that meant that Michael was dying. Like Myrnin. He was going to suffer and lose his mind and hurt people.

"And that is one of the reasons that I worked so hard on finding the curer" Claire said.

"I'm grateful for it" Michael said. "Both of you".

Claire blushed and Myrnin just looked happy.****

He could even hurt Eve.

Michael shrived at the thought.****

Tears pricked at her eyes, and she felt suddenly short of breath. When it had been just an abstract problem, just Morganville minus vampires equals safety, then that had been one thing, but it wasn't abstract. 

"People you know are involved" mum said. "It's going to be harder to do".

"It was already hard to do" Claire sighed.

**It was people she knew, liked, even loved.**

"Michael's like my big brother" Claire said.

"And Claire's like my little sister" Michael said.

**She wouldn't shed any tears over Oliver,**

"I can feel the love" Oliver aid, bored.

**But how could she not care about Michael? Or Sam? Or even Amelie?**

"Really?" Shane asked surprised.

"Still the same" Claire nodded.

"But what has Amelie ever done for you?" Shane asked.

"Not tried to kill me" Claire shrugged.****

Claire picked up her book bag and went upstairs.

Shane's door was shut. She knocked. He didn't answer for a long moment, and then said, "If I ignore you, will you go away?"

"That never works with Claire" Eve said.

"To true" Shane nodded.****

"No," she said.

"Might as well come in, then."

Mum and dad frowned.****

He was flopped on the bed, staring at the ceiling, hands under his head, and he didn't look at her as she entered and closed the door behind her.

"Still in a mood" Michael said.****

"So is this how it's going to go?" she asked. "I do something dumb like stay out late, you get mad and run away, I come and apologize and make everything better?"

"That is just silly" mum said. "You need to talk things over first".

"I agree" dad nodded.****

Shane, surprised, looked at her, then said, "Well, that kinda works for me, yeah."

Eve, Michael and Claire shook there heads.****

Claire thought about Michael, about the suddenly grown-up way he'd treated her. She sat down on the bed next to Shane, staring down at the floor for a few seconds to gather her courage, and then she pulled back her sleeve to expose the bracelet.

"So that's how you spilled?" Eve asked.

"Yep" Claire nodded.****

Shane didn't make a sound. He slowly sat up, staring at the shiny gold band with its Founder's symbol.

"I was surprised" Shane said.

"I notice" Claire said.****

"We need to talk," she said. She felt sick and terrified, but she knew it was the right choice. The only other thing to do was lie, and she couldn't keep on doing it. Michael was right about that.

"It's nice to know that you were listing to me" Michael said.

"I all ways listen" Claire said.****

Shane could have done anything - he could have run away, he could have thrown her out of his room. He could even have hit her.

"What!" Shane, mum, dad, Eve, Michael and Myrnin gasped.

Claire blushed. "I was scared".

"I would never and I could never do that to you" Shane said.

Claire smiled.****

Instead, he took her hand in his, bent his head, and said, "Tell me."

Eve wasn't so understanding. 

"Sorry" Eve said.

"It's fine" Claire said.

**"Are you out of your mind?" She picked up the handiest thing to throw - it happened to be the Playstation controller - and Shane quickly, carefully de-gamed her.**

"I like that" Shane said. "De-gamed her it has a ring to it".

**Claire thought he probably wouldn't have moved that fast if Eve had grabbed, oh, say, a book.**

"I was just thinking that" Eve said.

"But books and me are not really friends" Shane said.

"Only because you don't like to read" Claire said.****

"Let's be adults about this," Michael said. They were downstairs again, together, although Shane and Michael were still clearly standing at opposite poles. 

"Still?" dad said.

"Sadly" Claire nodded.

**It was getting late - eleven already -and Claire was feeling the strain of a very long, hard day. In fact, she yawned, which only made Eve shoot her a look of absolute exasperation.**

"Not a good idea to do in front of an angry Eve" Michael said.

"No kidding" Claire said.****

"Oh, I'm sorry, are we keeping you awake? Michael, how the hell do we be adults about this when one of us isn't an adult?" Eve levelled a shaking finger at her. "You're a kid, Claire. As in, you're still a wet-behind-the-ears dumbass who hasn't even been in this town a couple of months. You have no idea what you're doing!"

"Your right there" Claire nodded. "But not anymore".

"Sadly" Shane sighed.****

"Maybe I don't," Claire agreed. Her voice was almost steady, which pleased and surprised her. 

"We were surprised to" Eve said.

"Thanks" Claire said.

**She didn't like having Eve angry at her. She didn't like having anyone angry at her. "The thing is, it's done. I made the choice, that discussion was over before we had it. I wanted you to know, though. I didn't want to - " Her eyes met Michael's briefly. " - lie to you."**

"Even more anyway" Claire said.

"But you still didn't tell us about Myrnin" Shane frowned.

"Shane you still don't like the idea now days how do you think you would have felt back then" Claire sighed.

"Good point" Shane nodded.****

"Why the hell not? Everybody around here lies. Michael lied about being a ghost. Shane lies about shit all the time. Why not you, too?"

Shane groaned. "Yo, Drama Princess, want to tone it down a little? Somewhere, Sandra Bernhardt wants her tantrum back."

"And your any different Collins?" Oliver rolled his eyes.

Shane glared at Oliver.****

"Oh, like you don't throw a hissy every time somebody trips your angst switch!"

Claire looked helplessly at Michael, who was having a hard time not smiling. 

"Sorry but it was funny" Michael smiled.

**He shrugged and took a step forward. That meant, of course, that Shane backed up. "Eve," Michael said, ignoring Shane for the moment. "Give the girl some credit. At least she told you, instead of letting you figure it out on your own."**

"Yes I agree" Myrnin nodded.

"Are thanks" Michael blinked.****

"Yeah, and she told me last!" Eve glared at the two boys, hands on her hips.

"Boyfriend," Shane said, holding up his hand.

"Sadly" dad said under his breath.****

"Landlord," Michael chimed in.

"Crap," Eve sighed. "I guess that does leave me in last place. Right, next time you sell your soul to the evil, I get first contact! Girl solidarity, right?"

"Um - okay?"

"Dumbass," Eve sighed, defeated. "I can't believe you did that.

"I had to" Claire sighed.

Eve, Michael and Shane shook their heads.

**I worked so hard to get away from that Protection crap, and here you are, all ... Protected. I just wanted you to be - safe. And I'm not sure this is."**

"If I think about it now" Claire said. "It was safer than you would think".

"Most of the time" Shane said.****

"Yeah," Claire said. "Me neither. But I swear, it was the best thing I could think of. And at least it's Amelie. She's okay, right?"

They all looked at each other. Shane said, "But you won't tell us what she's got you doing that keeps you out late."

"I wish I could have told you" Claire sighed. "But sometimes you have to keep things secret".**  
**

The others nodded.

**"No. I - I can't do that."**

"Then she's not okay," Shane said. "And neither are you."

"I still agree with that" Shane nodded.

"I was fine" Claire sighed. "And Amelie did save my life a few times".

"Yes but that's not really the point" Shane said.****

But none of them had any good suggestions on how to fix it, and Claire fell asleep on the couch with her head in Shane's lap as he and Michael and Eve kept talking, and talking, and talking. 

"We weren't that bad" Eve said.

"You were when I had been up half the night" Claire said.

**It was three a.m. when she woke up; Shane hadn't moved, but she was covered with a blanket, and he was sound asleep, sitting straight up.**

"That's not the best thing for your back" Eve said.

"I know" Shane nodded.****

Claire yawned, groaned at sore muscles, and rolled to her feet. "Shane. Up. You need to go to bed."

He woke up cute, softened by sleep. 

Claire blushed.

**"Come with?" He was only half joking.**

"You had better be joking" dad said.

"Don't worry he was" Claire said, quickly.

**She remembered being curled up with him in her bed, the night she'd been so scared; he'd been careful then, but she wasn't sure she could count on that kind of self-restraint at three a.m., when he was half-asleep.**

"I really don't want to think about it" Eve said.

"We don't want to ether" mum said.

"Then let's keep reading" Claire blushed.****

"I can't," she said reluctantly. "Not that I don't want to ..."

He smiled and stretched out on his side on the couch, leaving a narrow space between his warm, solid body and the cushions. "Stay," he said. "I promise, no clothes will come off. Well, maybe shoes. Do shoes count as clothes?"

"Dad you can't say that shoes count as clothes" Claire said as her father looked like he was going to argue.

Dad frowned and closed his mouth.****

She kicked hers off and climbed over him to slip into that small pocket, and sighed in relief as his body pressed against hers. 

Claire blushed and looked at the back of the book.

**She didn't even need the blanket, but he put it over the two of them anyway, and then combed her hair back from her neck and kissed her on the soft, vulnerable skin.**

"I think that was on the other side of my neck" Claire said thinking about her scar.

"I think it was to" Shane nodded.****

"You were leaving," she whispered. He stopped moving. As far as she could tell, he stopped breathing. "You were leaving, and you didn't even know if I was okay."

"That was a little harsh" Claire said.

"But you do have a point" Myrnin said.****

"No. I was going to go look for you."

"When?" dad frowned. "After you had left?"****

"After you packed."

Dad nodded. "Just what I asked".****

"Claire, I didn't even know you hadn't come home until Eve came upstairs looking. I was going to look for you."

Mum and dad frowned.****

She looked back at him, over her shoulder, and saw the desperation hiding in his eyes.

"Please," he said. "Please believe me."

"Don't worry I do" Claire said.

"You're a lot more forgiving then I would be" Eve said.

Claire shrugged.****

Against her will, even against her better judgment, she did believe him. She felt safe, anchored against the troubled world by the heat of his body against hers.

Claire blushed again.****

His arm went around her waist, and she felt absolutely protected.

Mum and dad were frowning at Shane and Claire blushed and looked at the floor.****

"I won't let anything happen to you," he said. It was a promise he probably couldn't keep, but in the night, in the dark, it meant everything to her. "Hey."

"What?"

"Wanna fool around?"

Mum and dad glared at Shane.

Claire coved her bright red face with her hands and Shane looked at the floor. ****

She did.

Eve was laughing. "This is so funny".

"Thanks Eve" said a red faced Claire from behind her hands.****

She must have drifted off to sleep, because she woke up with her heart pounding, feeling like there was something really, really wrong. 

"A vampire?" mum asked worried.

"No a vampire would have killed us in our sleep" Claire said.

"Then what is it?" dad asked.

**For a second, as she came awake, she thought she smelled smoke, and that propelled her upright in a surge of panic. The house had almost burned once already ...**

"I forgot that happened" Eve said.

"Lucky you" Claire sighed.****

... no, not fire, but something was definitely wrong. There was something in the whole atmosphere of the house. The smoke had been some kind of signal, from it to her. A get your butt out of bed signal.

"Claire we really should do some test's on this house" Myrnin said, thoughtfully.

"After the books" Claire said.****

Shane was still sleeping next to her on the couch, but he was already awake too, rolling off to his feet as if he'd felt it, too.

"Not as badly as you" Shane said. "But I knew something was up".****

"What's happening?" Claire felt a jab go through her like electricity. "Shane?"

"Something's wrong."

"Oh I remember what happened that night" Eve said.

"Sam" Claire said.****

They both froze as they heard the sudden loud blare of a siren. It sounded like it was right in front of the house.

Claire heard feet on the stairs and saw Eve hurrying down in a satin nightgown and fluffy black robe. Eve's face was bare of any Goth makeup, and she looked flushed and anxious and scared.

"You should go for a week without the makeup on" Claire said.

"You're going to have to kill me first" Eve said.

"That could happen" Oliver said.****

"What is it?" Eve called. "What's going on?"

"I don't know," Shane said. "Something bad. Can't you feel it?"

"I'm glade I don't feel it like Claire douse" Shane said.

"It can be helpful" Claire said.****

This was an event, they were all up and it was barely six a.m. -

Eve plunged down the steps and yanked up the cord to raise the blinds on the window that faced the front yard. 

"That remands me" Eve said. "Someone needs to do some dusting around here".

"I bag not it" Shane said.

"And me" Michael said.

"It's your house" Claire said.

"And it's yours to" Michael shrugged.

Claire sighed and said something under her breath.

**They all looked out. A police car was in the middle of the street, siren still wailing, and its headlights cast a hot circle of light on a maroon sedan stopped on the street, its driver's side door open. Its lights were still on, and there was a body slumped on the road next to it.**

"Who is it?" dad asked.

"Is it you Michael?" mum asked.

"No I was safe" Michael said.****

The windows were dark-tinted.

"So it's a vampire then" dad said.****

It was a vampire's car.

Eve screamed, spun, and looked at them with wide, terrified eyes. "Where's Michael?" she asked, and Claire stupidly looked behind her, as if she was going to find him standing there.

"I was half asleep" Claire said, as she blushed.

"We know dear" mum said.****

They all looked back at the street, the car, the body.

"I should have wakened one of you up before I left" Michael said.

"Doesn't matter" Shane said.****

"But he doesn't have a car," Claire whispered. 

"Yes I did" Michael said. "It was only new but I still had one".

**Shane was already moving for the door at a flat run, but Eve just stood there staring, frozen. Claire put her arm around her and felt her shaking.**

Michael took Eve's hand in his.****

She saw Shane blow through the gate at the fence and run toward the body; the cop who'd just emerged from the patrol car grabbed him, slung him around and slammed him face-first onto the hood.

"Not really my first time" Shane said.

"So didn't want to know that" Claire sighed.

**Shane was yelling something.**

"I need to go out there," Claire said. "Stay here."

"I don't think she will" mum said.****

Eve nodded numbly.

"I was still in shock" Eve said.

**Claire hated leaving her there, but Shane was going to get himself arrested if he kept it up, and who knew what could happen to him in jail?**

"I don't even want to think about it would be like" Claire said.

"Same here" Eve nodded.****

She was only to the porch when another police car turned the corner, lights flashing, siren adding its howl to the chaos.

"I bet everyone in the street was up and looking outside" Michael said.

"I did see a few people at their windows" Shane nodded.

**It braked beside the first one, and another policeman got out and moved to where Shane was being restrained.**

Claire didn't recognize the cop who had Michael face-down on the hood, but she knew the new arrival. It was Richard Morrell, Monica's big brother. 

"I feel sorry for him" Eve said. "Having a sister like that".

"Scary thought" Michael said.

**He wasn't a bad guy, although he was definitely from the same icky gene pool. He took over for the other cop, who backed away.**

"Shane! Dammit, Shane, calm the hell down. This is a crime scene, I can't let you run out there, do you understand? Calm down!"

"You really should have done as you were told" Claire said.

"I was worried that it was Michael" Shane said.****

Richard was occupied with keeping Shane under control, so the other policeman went to crouch next to the body on the street. The body. Claire took a step closer, and the policeman produced a flashlight and focused it on the face of the man lying in the street.

"I really wish I hadn't seen that" Claire said.

Mum and dad looked worried.****

Not Michael.  


"That's good" mum said.

"Yes but who is it then?" dad said.

**Sam.**

"Oh dear" mum said, sadly.****

There was a stake in his chest, and he was still and white and not moving.

"He looked dead" Shane said.

"After a vampire has been staked they feel dead" Claire said.

"How do you know?" Oliver asked.

"I had to do it to Myrnin once" Claire said.****

"Richard!" the cop yelled. "It's Sam Glass! Looks dead to me!"

Everyone who had meet Sam winced.****

"Sam," Claire whispered. "No."

"I was thinking the something" Eve said.****

Sam had been kind to her,

"A lot kinder then most vampires anyway" Claire said.

"Sam was nice to everyone" Michael said.

**And somebody had dragged him out of his car and put a stake through his chest.**

Myrnin shock his head. "Cowards".

"Oh they were" Claire nodded.****

"Shit!" Richard spat. "Shane, sit your ass down. Down, right now. Don't make me handcuff you." He yanked Shane by the collar of his t-shirt and sat him down on the curb, glared at him for a second, then came over to look at the body.

"I don't think I have ever seen Richard so that before" Shane said.

"He doesn't seem the type" Claire said.

**"Holy mother of - grab his feet."**

"What?" The other cop - his name tag said FENTON - looked at him with a frown. "It's a crime scene, we can't - "

"Remained me to have a word with this man" Oliver said.

"That job is for me Oliver" Amelie said, coldly. "I will talk to him".

Oliver shrugged.****

"He's still alive, you idiot. Grab his damn feet, Fenton! If he burns, he's dead."

The first rays of sun crept over the horizon and fell on Sam's still form.

And Claire saw him start to smoke.

The vampires in the room winced.

"Not the nicest thing to happen" Myrnin said.****

"What are you waiting for?" Richard shouted. "Pick him up!" The other cop, after a blank hesitation, grabbed Sam by the feet. Richard took him under the arms, and together they bodily threw him into the maroon sedan, the one with tinted windows, and slammed the door shut. 

"At lest they got him in the car fast" Eve said.

**Fenton started for the driver's side, but Richard got there first. "I'll drive," Richard said. "The wound's still fresh. He's got a chance if I can get him to Amelie."**

"Luckily Richard knew what to do" Claire said. "The others were just standing there".

"I think they were scared that Sam would wake up" Shane said.****

Fenton backed off and nodded. Richard gunned the engine, and slammed the door even as he was peeling rubber toward the end of the street.

"I would have been worried about Sam dyeing when I was driving or something" Eve said.

"Hay Myrnin when a vampire is staked can they still hear what is happing?" Claire asked.

"Sometimes" Myrnin said, thoughtfully. "It is a little like a long tunnel and sometimes you cannot hear a thing".****

Officer Fenton glared at Shane. "You going to give me trouble, boy?" he demanded. Claire sure hoped not. 

"Not much hope in that not happing" Eve said.

**This man was twice the size of Richard Morrell, twice as old, and he looked like a human pit bull.**

"What a nice looking guy" Eve joked.

"That's mean Eve" Claire said.****

Shane held up his hands. "No trouble from me, officer. Sir."

"You two see what happened here?"

"No," Claire said. "I was asleep. We all were."

"Is it just me or do you take that in a dirty way?" Michael asked.

"The police did the same thing" Claire said.****

"All in the same room?" the cop grunted, and looked her over, from her bed-head to the wrinkled clothes. "Didn't take you for the type."

"That is just so wrong" Claire said and the others nodded.

**She couldn't figure out what he meant for a few seconds, and then felt a wave of hot embarrassment sweep over her.**

"So young" Eve said.

"Very true" dad said and Claire rolled her eyes.

**"No, I mean - Eve was in her own room. We were asleep on the couch."**

Shane said, "Yeah, we were all asleep. Woke up when we heard the siren."

"That was only part true" Claire said.

"I don't think they would have believed us if we had told them the truth" Shane said.

**Which wasn't quite true, was it? They'd woken up, and then heard the siren. But Claire wasn't sure why that would be important.**

"Could it be because it was the house that did it?" Eve said.

"Funny" Claire rolled her eyes.****

The cop tapped on a handheld device, still frowning. "Ought to be four of you in the house. Where's the other two?"

"I forgot that Michael went missing" Shane said.

"I was called in" Michael said.

"Called in for what?" mum asked.

"Later" Claire said.****

"Eve's still inside. And Michael - " Where the hell was Michael? "I don't know where he is."

"I'll go see if he's in his room," Shane volunteered, but the cop froze him in place with another thunderous scowl.

"They're not going to let you go" Myrnin said.

"They made me go" Claire said.****

"You'll sit your ass down on that curb and be quiet. You, what's your name?"

"He had better be nicer to you" dad said.

"He was like any other policeman" Claire told him. ****

"Claire Danvers."

"Claire, get in there, fined out if Michael Glass is inside. If he's not, find out if his car is missing."

"They think that Michael did it" mum said.

"They were going there" Shane nodded.****

Claire stared at him, wide-eyed. "You don't think ...?"

"I don't think anything until I have facts. I need to know who's here, who isn't, and work from there." The cop transferred his dark stare to Shane, who was starting to get up. "I already told you; sit your ass down, Collins."

"You just can't help yourself" Eve shock her head.

"That's me" Shane said.****

"I didn't have anything to do with this!"

"If I had to put together a list of prime suspects out to stake some vampires, you'd be right at the top, so yeah, you do. Sit down."

"You really should listen to the nice man with the gun" Claire said.

"I don't think I would call him nice" Eve said.

"Same" Shane nodded.****

Shane sat, looking furious. Claire silently begged him not to do anything stupid, and hurried back into the house. Eve was upstairs dressing - black baby-doll tee with a bling-enhanced cartoon Elmer Fudd on the front, and black jeans with clunky Doc Martens.

"You don't really wear jeans do you" Claire said.

"Not really but I still like them" Eve shrugged.****

"It wasn't - "

"I know, I saw," Eve said. Her voice sounded stuffy, like she'd been crying, or about to. "It was Sam, right? Is he alive? Or - whatever?"

"But Sam was ok right?" mum asked.

"Sam was fine" Claire said. "He just needed to heal".****

"I don't know. Richard said something like he could still be okay." Claire gripped the doorknob tightly, and glanced down the hall. Michael's door was closed. It was always closed. "Did you look - ?"

"That would have been my first place to look" Myrnin said.****

"No." Eve took a deep breath and stood up. "I'll go with you."

"You didn't have to" Claire said.

"I wanted to" Eve said.****

Michael's door was unlocked, and it was utterly dark inside. Claire flipped on the lights. Michael's bed was empty, neatly made, and the room looked absolutely normal.

""I don't know how you can keep you room so neat" Shane shock his head.

"Easy" Michael said.

**Eve checked the closets, under the bed, even the master bathroom.**

"Why would I be under the bed?" Michael asked amused.

"I don't know" Eve said. "But you could have been".

"I gave that up when I was seven" Michael said.****

"No sign of him," she said breathlessly. "Let's check the garage."

The garage was a shed in the back, not attached to the house; the two of them went out the back kitchen door and crossed the rutted driveway. The shed's doors were closed.

"You should be worried if there not closed" Shane said. "There always closed".****

Eve opened one side, Claire the other.

Michael's car was gone.

"I don't see why you're so worried about Michael" Myrnin said. "He is a vampire and he can look after he's self".

Claire sighed. "Don't try he want get it".****

"What about work? Could he be at work?"

"Not at that time anyway" Michael said.****

"TJ's doesn't open until ten," Eve said. "Why would he be in there at six?"

"I could have been doing anything" Michael said.

"I'm not going to think too much about that" Claire said.****

"Inventory?"

"Not one place in this town would be doing that at that time" Shane said.

"How would you know?" Oliver asked.

"Deep breaths Shane" Claire sighed. "Try not to think about it".****

"You think they're going to call a vampire in at six a.m. to do inventory?" Eve slammed the shed door and kicked it for good measure.

"Temper, temper" Shane joked.

"Shut up" Eve said.

**"Where the hell is he? And why the hell don't I have a working cell phone? Why don't you?"**

"Mine was lost I think" Claire said.

"And mine was smashed" Eve said.****

Hers had been lost, Eve's had been smashed, and both of them looked miserably at each other for a few seconds, then without a word, walked to the front yard where Shane was still sitting on the curb. 

"And not looking very happy" Claire said.

**If anybody could sit rebelliously, he was doing it.**

"I wish I could sit rebellious" Eve joked.

"It's all in the legs" Shane joked.****

"Give me your phone," Eve demanded and held out her hand. Shane looked at her with a frown. "Now, dumbass. Michael's not inside and his car's gone."

"I don't see why no one ever tells me things" Shane frowned. "I didn't even know that Michael had a car".

"Need to know only" Michael joked.****

"Michael's got a car? Since when?"

"Since the vampires issued him one. He didn't tell you?"

"I knew I forgot to do something" Michael said.

"You and Shane had been fighting for the past week" Claire pointed out.****

Shane just shook his head. A muscle jumped in his jaw. "He doesn't tell me shit, Eve. Not since - "

"He is still your friend" dad frowned.

"Yes sir" Shane nodded.****

"Not since you started treating him like the Evil Dead? Yeah. Imagine that."

He silently handed over his cell phone and looked away, staring at the street where Sam's body had been tossed. Claire wondered if he was thinking about his dad's crusade, about the only good vampire is a dead vampire.

"No I was thinking about when Michael and I were back at school" Shane said. "We had some good times".

"And some way to good times" Michael said. "Shane was always getting me in to trouble".

"Like you didn't help" Shane rolled his eyes.****

Claire wondered if he really, deep down, still agreed.

Shane looked down.****

Eve dialled and put the phone to her ear.

"I was so happy when you picked up" Eve said.

"I should have left a note" Michael said.

"I did the same thing once" Claire said.

**For a tense few seconds nothing happened, and then Claire saw relief melt the tension out of Eve's face and body. "Michael! Where the hell are you?" Pause. "Where?" Pause. "Oh. Okay. I need to tell you - " Pause. "You know." Pause. "Yeah, we'll - talk later."**

Eve folded the phone and handed it back. Shane slipped it in his pocket again, eyebrows up and signalling questions.

"She's going to lie" mum said.

"How did you know that?" Claire asked, surprised.

Mum shock her head and smiled.****

"He's okay," she said. Her eyes had gone dark and narrow.

"Saying that just about told them that something was up" Michael said.

"Well I'm sorry next time I will come up with a big story" Eve rolled her eyes.

"Sorry" Michael said.****

"And?"

"And nothing. He's fine. End of story."

"It never is" Claire said.****

"Bullshit," Shane said, and tugged her down to sit next to him on the curb. "Spill it, Eve. Now."

Claire sat too, on Eve's other side. The curb felt cold and hard,

"So like a normal curb" Eve said.

Claire rolled her eyes.

**But the good thing was that the patrol car blocked Fenton's view of them. **

"Yes that is helpful" Myrnin nodded.

"It really was" Claire nodded.

**He was talking to the occupants of another car, vampire-tinted, who had pulled up behind the cruiser.**

"I hate those cars" Eve said.

"I hate the inside with the windows" Claire said.****

"He was downtown," she said. "At the Elder's Council. They pulled him in there early this morning."

"That must have been fun" Shane joked.

"Oh it was" Michael sighed.****

"Who did?"

"The Big Three." Oliver, Amelie and the mayor, Richard and Monica's dad. "Amelie just got word about Sam. 

"That must have been hard" mum said to everyone's surprise including Amelie's.

"Thank you" Amelie nodded.

**But Michael's not hurt or anything." An unspoken for now was at the end of that. Eve was worried. **

"I'm always worried" Eve said.

"Sorry" Michael said and Eve shock her head.

"Don't be" Eve smiled at Michael.

**She bent her head closer to Shane's, lowered her voice even further, and said, "You didn't have anything to do with what happened to Sam, right?"**

"Sam may have been a vamp but he was alright" Shane said. "He never did anything to me".****

"Jesus, Eve!"

"I'm only asking because - "

"With had happened with the passed mouth" Eve shrugged.

"I got that" Shane said. ****

"I know why you're asking," he whispered back fiercely. "Hell no. If was going to go after some vampire, it wouldn't have been Sam. 

"It would be Oliver" Shane said before thinking of Myrnin but thought that he had better not say it.

Oliver glared at Shane.

**I'd be staking somebody like Oliver, make it worth my time. Speaking of Oliver, he'd be my number one suspect."**

"Vampires don't kill their own" Claire said. "Only if they have to or are sick".****

"Vampires don't kill their own."

Myrnin winced.

"Only if they're sick" Claire said sadly looking at Myrnin.****

"He arranged for Brandon to die," Claire offered. "I think Oliver's capable of anything. And he'd love to see Amelie even more isolated." 

"That was true back then" Claire said think of what happened before Amelie forgot who Claire was.

"I don't know about the back then part" Shane said.

Claire shock her head.

**She swallowed hard. "She told me once that Sam was safer if she didn't keep him close. I guess she was right."**

"Doesn't matter. Oliver keeps his hands clean, no matter what. Some broke-ass human is going to burn for this, and you know it," Shane said. 

"Did they?" dad asked.

"I can't remember" Shane said. "But I don't think so".

**"And it happened in front of our house, and nobody's forgotten what happened with my dad. You don't think we're being set up?"**

"No" Claire shock her head. "But someone was trying to set Michael up".

"If it had been me" Michael said. "I would have died".****

Crap. Shane was right. The fact that Michael was safe was good, but it was also a double-edged sword; it meant that Michael had been gone when Sam had been attacked.

"As if Michael could do that to he's own family" Eve rolled her eyes.

"The police wouldn't have seen it like that" Claire said.

"True" Michael agreed and Eve nodded.****

And Michael was the only one of them whose word might be worth anything to the vampires.

"Not if they think it was me" Michael said.

"Doubt that they would have" Claire said.

"You never know" Shane said.****

Sure enough, Fenton came back around the cruiser and stared at the three of them for a few seconds, then said, "You're being taken in for questioning. All three of you. Get in the back seat."

"Oh dear" mum said. "What about you-".

"Don't worry about that" Claire said. "You will find out soon why you don't need to worry about it".****

Shane didn't move. "I'm not going anywhere."

"Really Collin's?" Oliver rolled his eyes.

Shane glared at him.****

The policeman sighed and leaned against the quarter panel. "Son, you've got a lot of attitude, and I respect that.

"Shane have you ever thought of becoming a cop?" Claire asked.

"Nope" Shane shock his head. "I don't really think it's me".

**But you'd better catch a clue right now, because either you get in my car, or you get in their car." He pointed toward the silent dark sedan, the one with vampires inside. "And I promise you, that won't end so well. You get me?"**

"I don't even want to think about it" Claire said.

"Talk about a blood bath" Eve winced. "But in a car".****

Shane nodded, stood, and gave Eve a hand up.

Claire stayed seated. She pulled up the sleeve on her left arm.

"Oh" Myrnin said. "I see".

"It was my only way of finding out what was happing" Claire shrugged.

**The bracelet glittered and glimmered in the morning light, and she held it up for Fenton's clear view.**

His eyes widened. "Is that ...?"

"Sadly yes" Shane sighed.****

"I want to see my Patron," Claire said. "Please."

"Nice and polite" mum smiled.

"Sometimes I wish I could be less nice to everyone" Claire sighed.****

He went off to talk on his radio, then came back and jerked his head at Shane and Eve. "In the back seat," he said. "You're going to the station. You, kid ..." He nodded toward the other sedan. "They'll take you to Amelie."

"With the vampires?" mum asked.

Claire nodded.****

Claire swallowed hard and exchanged a look with Shane, then Eve. That hadn't been her plan. 

"We didn't know what you were doing" Eve said.

"I couldn't really tell you with every one around" Claire shrugged.

**She wanted them all to stay together. How could she keep them safe if they got separated?**

"You don't need to keep us safe" Shane shock his head.

Claire sighed.****

"Don't," Shane said. "Come with us."

"Too late" Myrnin said.****

Truthfully, that was starting to sound like a better idea. The vampires weren't going to be happy, and her shiny gold bracelet didn't exempt her from suspicion.

"It would be cool if it did" Eve said.

"Not really any point innless you're going to kill someone" Claire said.

"Still would be cool" Eve shrugged.

**Amelie could still order her hurt, or killed.**

"And she still could" Claire said, glancing at Amelie.

"Only if I must" Amelie said. ****

"Okay," Claire said. Shane looked massively relieved as he ducked his head and entered the back seat of the cruiser. Eve followed him in.

"What happened to lades first?" Michael asked Shane.

"He told us to get in" Shane shrugged. "So I got in".****

The cop slammed the door after Eve, before Claire could get in the patrol car.

"What? Why?" mum asked.

"I get to go some place worse" Claire said.

"What fun for you" Shane said.****

"Hey!" Shane yelled, and hit the car window. He and Eve were both trying to get out, but the doors weren't opening.

"Locked from the outside" Shane said.****

Fenton grabbed her by the arm and hustled her over to the other sedan, opened the door, and put her in the back seat before she could protest.

"I don't think arguing would have helped much" Shane said.

"Your one to talk" Eve said.

"Shut up" Shane said.

**Claire heard the faint click of locks engaging, and sat very still, trying to see through the gloom.**

"What is it and vampires and scaring humans?" Claire asked the room.

"It's fun" Oliver said bored.****

One of the vampires flicked on the overhead light. Oh crap. It was two of her not-favourite people.

"That could be half the town" eve said.

"Not back then" Claire said.

**The woman was pale as snow, with white-blonde hair and eyes of palest silver. Gretchen. Her partner, Hans, was a hard man made of angles, with greying short hair, and a stony expression.**

"You have the best luck" Michael said.

"I really do" Claire agreed.****

"I wish we'd gotten the boy instead," Gretchen said, clearly disappointed. Her voice was low-pitched, throaty, with a heavy foreign accent. 

"She was from Germany but lost most of it" Oliver said.

"Did you know her when she was still human?" Claire asked.

"Only in passing" Oliver said.

**Not quite German, but not quite anything else, either. An old accent, Claire thought.**

"Most vampires have an old accent" Eve said. "But that could be because there old them self's".

"Wow, really?" Shane rolled his eyes.

Eve rolled her eyes at him.

**"He was so rude to us when last we spoke. And surely his father deserves a lesson, even if the boy does not."**

"Amelie says just bring this one," Hans said, and put the car in gear. He looked at Claire in the rear view mirror. "Seatbelt, please."

"You had better have put it on" mum said.

Claire sighed and nodded.****

She had trouble wrapping her head around that - why did he care? - But she clicked the safety restraint shut and sat back. 

Mum and dad nodded.

**Like the ride in Sam's car the day before, she couldn't see a thing outside the windows except a faint gray dot where the sun was rising.**

"Where are you taking me?" she asked. Gretchen laughed. Claire caught the flash of fangs 

"I hate it when vampires do that" Shane said.

"We know" Myrnin smiled.

**But Gretchen didn't really need them to be scary. Not at all.**

"Most vampires don't" Claire shrived.****

"To the Elder's Council," she said. "You remember it, Claire. You had such a good time there when last we visited."

"Oh dear" mum and dad sighed.

"Sam was ok" Claire said. "He was fine a week later".

"I think next chapter we should have some lunch" Eve said and Shane nodded.

"Ok who wants to read?" Shane asked. "And be quick, I'm starved".

"I think that it is my turn" Myrnin said, taking the book and reading.

"**Chapter 7**" Myrnin read.

_**Hope you liked it. It was longer then the last few chapters with 12,491 words but I got there in the end. So I'm sorry if it got a little boring. Next chapter up soon, please review :)**_


	7. Chapter 7

"Oh dear" mum and dad sighed.

"Sam was ok" Claire said. "He was fine a week later".

"I think next chapter we should have some lunch" Eve said and Shane nodded.

"Ok who wants to read?" Shane asked. "And be quick, I'm starved".

"I think that it is my turn" Myrnin said, taking the book and reading.

"**Chapter 7**" Myrnin read.

**There was Morganville - the dry, dusty, run-down town that was all most people ever saw - and then there was Founder's Square, a little piece of Europe where people with a pulse weren't welcome. **

"That is if you're not Claire here" Eve said.

"Just because I go there and not get killed doesn't mean the vampire like me going there" Claire sighed. "Anyway I don't really like going there if I can help it".

"If is the key word there" Shane said glaring at Myrnin.

**Claire had been inside once, and it wasn't a fond memory; no matter how cute the little cafes were, or how nice the shops, she could only see the centre of the square, with its cage where they'd locked up Shane.**

"What good times" Oliver said.

"Oh Oliver I thought we had something good going here" Shane said faking a hurt voices

"In your dreams Collins" Oliver said coldly.****

Where they'd been meaning to burn him alive as punishment for something he hadn't even done.

Somehow, Claire had expected to be parked in the same place as last time -outside of the square, at the police checkpoint - but of course that wasn't possible, was it? A few of the older vampires might be able to stand the sun, but they wouldn't willingly stroll around in it. 

"Most vampires I think would agree with me when I say that the colour pink is not really our thing" Myrnin said from behind the book.

"No black is more your thing" Claire said. "In less your name is Myrnin then you just go with it".

**Morganville was built for the convenience of vampires, not humans, and when Claire's door opened, and Gretchen impatiently gestured for her to get out, they were in an underground parking garage.**

"No there out in the bright sun" Oliver rolled his eyes.

Claire ignored him and Myrnin read over the top of him.

**It was full of cars, all nice ones, with darkened windows. Like a Beverly Hills mall or something.**

"I have seen those places on TV" Eve said. "There so cool".

Claire shrugged. "There a little bit busy for me but you would love them".

Eve sighed dreamily.****

There were armed guards. One of them started toward them as Gretchen pulled Claire out of the car, but Hans flashed him a badge, and the other guy - vampire, presumably - backed off.

"I wish I had a badge like that" Shane said.

"It would have been useful Claire nodded.

"Was more like still is" Shane said.****

"Let's go," Hans said. "Your Patron is waiting."

Gretchen chuckled. Not a happy sound. 

"Vampires are good at that" Eve said.

"It's creepy" Claire nodded.

**Claire stumbled over her own feet trying to keep up as the two vampires set off at a brisk walk, Gretchen's iron-hard grip on her upper arm setting in with bruising force. She was short of breath by the time they got to a long double flight of stairs, which the vampires took at a jog.**

"Note to self, work out some time" Claire said.

"I should do the same" Eve said.

"You really should" Shane nodded before ducking out of the way of being hit by Eve and Claire.

**At the top of the stairs was some kind of fire door, with a code panel. Claire didn't dare try to sneak a look at what Hans entered; knowing the vampires' paranoia, it wouldn't do her any good.**

"Not that I would have been able to read it" Claire said.

"Why do you say that dear?" mum asked.

"Vampire type really fast" Claire shrugged.

**The machines were probably calibrated to exclude anybody with a heartbeat.**

"No, but that is a good idea" Myrnin said, thoughtfully.

"Great going Claire" Shane joked. "Now how are we going to take over the town?"

"Very funny Collins" Oliver said.****

Which made her wonder: was Myrnin behind the town's security, too? 

"Sadly" Shane said.

"Shane you do know that also makes me behind it to" Claire said.

"I never thought of it that way" Shane frowned.

**Was that something else she was supposed to learn? It could really come in handy if she could persuade him to show her ...**

All the older vampires and Shane looked at her.

"I just meant that it would be interesting" Claire said, blushing.

"Shore you did Claire, shore" Eve rolled her eyes.

"I don't think like that anymore" Claire sighed and winced when she saw Shane lose his smile. "Please read Myrnin".****

She was obsessing on technical's to avoid feeling the terror, but as soon as the door lock released she had nothing else to focus on except fear,

"You were never good with fear when you were a child" mum said.

"I don't think many six year olds are" Claire said.

**And it washed over her in a sticky, cold wave. Gretchen seemed to sense it. **

"Vampire's can smell it" Claire sighed.

"It can be rather annoying to be around humans when they work out what you are" Myrnin nodded.

**She looked down at Claire with those cool, mirror-gray eyes, and smiled. "Worried, little one?" she asked sweetly. "Worried for yourself, or for your friends?"**

"More like friends" Eve said.

Mum and dad frowned but smiled at the same time.****

"Worried for Sam," Claire said.

"I bet that shocked her" Michael said.

"It surprised her yes" Claire nodded.

**Gretchen lost her smile, and for just an instant, she seemed honestly off balance and surprised. **

"You always seem to amaze me" Shane said and Eve nodded.

"I wish I had it on tap" Eve said.

"So do I" Claire nodded.

**"Is he alive?"**

"Alive?" Gretchen's armor slid firmly back in place, and she raised a slender arched eyebrow. "He may yet be saved, if that is what you mean. I suppose your friend Shane will have to try again."

"What is it with this town and blaming everything on me?" Shane sighed.

"Next time we shell blame it on Claire" Oliver said.

"Thanks Oliver" Claire sighed.****

"Shane didn't do anything!"

"Like they were going to believe you" Eve said.

****"I waste really thinking strait" Claire said.

**This time, Gretchen's smile got positively cruel. "Perhaps not," she said. "Perhaps not yet. But be patient. He will. It's in his nature, as much as killing is in ours."**

"You try living with my dad and not being ready to kill something" Shane said.

"Oh I have" Claire and Myrnin said.

"He's better with me then with Myrnin" Claire said.****

Claire had to save her breath, because they were walking again, big strides across thick maroon carpet. Claire's first impression of the Elder's Council building had been that it was a funeral home; it still felt like that to her, all hushed and quiet and elegant. 

"It's creepy" Claire and Eve said.

"I wonder how that could have of happened" Shane muttered getting glares from Oliver and Myrnin.

**They'd had roses in the last time, when the vampire they'd thought Shane killed had been lying in state. She didn't see any flowers this time.**

"The place still smelled like roses" Claire said.

"I love roses" mum said. "Red ones".

"We know dear" dad said.****

Gretchen led her down a hallway and through thick double doors, into the round entry hall. There were four armed vampire guards in the room, and Gretchen and Hans had to stop and show ID, and surrender their weapons.

"It sounds like an airport but without the planes" dad said.

"And better looking inside and out" Claire said.

**Claire got searched - quick, competent pats from cold hands that made her shiver.**

"At least they didn't do what that biker did" Eve said.

Claire nodded. "I never want that to happen again".****

And then the doors opened, and she was pulled into a big round room with a high ceiling, chandeliers like falls of ice, and dim, expensive paintings on the walls. 

"You know some of those painting would be over ten- thousand dollars" Claire said.

"Claire think about who you talking to" Michael said.

Claire blushed.

**She hadn't imagined the smell of roses. In the centre of the room stood a massive round conference table, surrounded by chairs, and in the centre was a vase filled with red, red blooms.**

"Beautiful" mum smiled.****

Nobody was at the table. Instead, a group of at least ten was standing at the other side of the room, looking down.

Some of them turned to look, and Claire's gaze fixed irresistibly on Oliver. 

"Great now I have to read the chapter with Oliver in it" Myrnin made a face at the book.

"Read" Oliver snapped.

**She hadn't seen him since he'd threatened her life, trying to lure Shane out of hiding, and as he stood up now she had a flash of that again, how icy and hard his hands had been around her throat. How scared she'd been.**

Claries parents shrived.****

Oliver snarled, low in his throat but loud enough to be heard, and his eyes were like a wolf's. Not human at all.

"That could be because his not" Shane said.

"Don't Shane" Claire sighed.****

"I see you brought the criminal for punishment," he said, and moved toward them.

"Missed it by that much" Eve said and should an inch with her fingers.

Oliver glared at her.****

Gretchen looked at Hans, and then shoved Claire behind her. "Stop," she said. Oliver did, mostly in surprise. "The girl asked to come, to see her Patron. We have no proof she is guilty."

"I bet they wished they had" Shane said.****

"If she lives in that house, then she's guilty," Oliver said. "You surprise me, Gretchen. When did you begin taking the side of the breathers?"

She laughed, but it had a bright, false sound to it. She said something in a language that Claire didn't recognize, and Oliver spat something back, and Hans put a big hand on Claire's shoulder.

"Anther note to self, learn a different langue" Claire said.

"You were good at welsh" mum said.

"But that was when I five and I have forgot everything that I learnt about it" Claire said.

"Don't worry I will teach you honey" dad said. "I can still remember most of it".****

"She's our responsibility," he said. "And she's Amelie's property. Nothing to do with you, Oliver. Move."

Oliver, smiling, raised his hands and backed away. Hans moved Claire forward, past him, and she felt his stare on the back of her neck, as real as knives.

Myrnin frowned as he read.****

The circle of people parted as Hans approached. It was mostly (Claire guessed) vampires; they didn't wear tags or anything, but most of them had the same cool pale skin, the same whip-snake quickness when they moved.

"That's big give away" Claire said. "At least Myrnin treys to move more like a human around me".

"I was sick of seeing you jump every time I moved" Myrnin said.

**In fact, the only two humans - breathers? - she saw were Mayor Morrell, looking miserably uncomfortable as he stood near the edge of the group, and his son Richard. **

"I'm surprised Richards still there" Eve said. "I would have thought that he would be doing paper work or something".

"I think it was his plane but his dad made him stay" Claire said.

**Richard's uniform was damp in places, and it took Claire a few seconds to realize that it was wet with blood.**

Sam's blood.

Everyone who had seen Same die winced.****

Sam was lying on his back on the carpet, with his head cradled in Amelie's lap. The elder vampire was kneeling, and her hands were stroking gently through Sam's bright copper hair. He looked pale and dead, and the stake was still in his chest.

They all winced again and Amelie started at the book with nothing showing on her face what she was feeling.****

Amelie's eyes were closed, but opened as Hans pushed Claire toward her. For a long second the older vampire didn't seem to recognize Claire at all, and then weariness flashed through her expression, and she looked down at Sam, her fingers trailing across his cheek.

"Claire, assist me," she said, as if they were continuing a conversation Claire hadn't even been in on. "Give her room, please."

"Wait what's happening?" Shane and Eve asked.

"I didn't tell you did I?" Claire asked and they shook their heads. "I took the stack out".

"Thanks for telling us" Eve said.

"Sorry" Claire said.****

Hans let go, and Claire felt a wild urge to run, run out of this room, get Shane and just go, anywhere but here. 

"What about me and Michael?" Eve asked.

"The vampires would have found Michael straight away" Claire said.

**There was something too big to understand in Amelie's eyes, something she didn't want to know. She started to take a step back, but Amelie's hand flashed out and grabbed her wrist and pulled, and Claire fell to her knees on the other side of Sam's body.**

He looked dead.

Again they all winced.

"I really hate this chapter" Michael said.

"Same" Eve said and Claire nodded.****

Really, really dead.

"When I tell you, take hold of the wood and pull," Amelie said, her voice low and steady. "Not until I tell you."

"Why didn't you get Oliver or some other vampire to do it?" Shane asked.

"I have my resigns" Amelie said.****

"But - I'm not very strong - " Why wasn't she asking Richard? Asking one of the vampires? Oliver, even?

"You are strong enough. When I tell you, Claire." Amelie closed her eyes again, and Claire scrubbed her damp palms nervously over her blue jeans. The wooden stake in Sam's chest was round, polished wood, like a spike, and she couldn't tell how deep it was in his body. Was it in his heart? 

"Was it in his heart?" mum asked.

Claire nodded.

**Wouldn't that kill him, once and for all? She remembered they'd talked about other vampires who'd gotten staked, and they'd died ...**

"They were silver or they had been left in to long" Michael said.

"How do you know?" Shane asked.

"Read it" Michael shrugged.****

Amelie's expression suddenly twisted in pain, and she said, "Now, Claire!"

Claire didn't even think. She fastened her hands around the stake and pulled, one massive yank, and for a terrifying second she thought it wouldn't work, but then she felt it sliding free, scraping against bone as it went.

"Lovely" Eve grimaced.****

Sam's whole body arched, like he'd been shocked with one of those heart machines, and the circle of vampires moved back. Amelie kept hold of him, her fingers white as bone where they pressed on the sides of his head. Her eyes flew open, and they were pure blazing silver.

"It was scary" Claire shrived.

"It would have been honey" mum said.****

Claire scrambled backward, clutching the stake in both hands. Someone plucked it out of her grip - Richard Morrell, looking grim and tired. He put it into a plastic bag and zipped it shut.

"Evidence after all of that" Eve said.

"There could still have been traces on there" Claire said.****

Evidence.

Sam went limp again. The wound in his chest was bleeding a steady slow trickle, and Amelie took off her jacket - white silk - and folded it into a pad to press it against the flow. Nobody spoke, not even Amelie. Claire sat there feeling helpless, watching Sam. He wasn't moving, not at all.

"I really hated that part" Claire said.****

He still looked dead.

"I can see why" Eve nodded.****

"Samuel," Amelie said, and her voice was low and quiet and warm. She bent closer to him. "Samuel. Come back to me."

His eyes opened, and they were all pupil. Scary owl eyes. 

"Cool" Eve said. "I love owls".

"Not this one" Claire said.

**Claire bit her lip and thought again about running, but Hans and Gretchen were at her back and she knew she didn't have a chance, anyway.**

Sam blinked, and his pupils began to shrink slowly to a more normal size. His lips moved, but no sound came out.

"It most likely did but the humans couldn't hear it" Michael said.

"That's the downside to human ears" Claire said.****

"Breathe in," Amelie said, in that same quiet, warm tone. "I'm here, Samuel. I won't leave you." She stroked fingers gently over his forehead, and he blinked again and slowly focused on her.

It was like there was nobody else in all the world, just the two of them. Amelie was wrong, Claire thought. It isn't just that Sam loves her. She loves him just as much.

Amelie looked at Claire but didn't speck.****

Sam looked from Amelie to the circle of people, searching it for someone. When he didn't find the right one, he looked at Amelie again. His lips formed a name. Michael.

Michael looked surprised but sad at the same time.

"He really loved you Michael" Eve smiled at Michael who nodded and kissed her on the cheek.****

"Michael is safe," Amelie said. "Hans. Fetch him here."

Hans nodded and left, walking quickly. Michael. Claire realized with a jolt that she'd forgotten he'd be here, forgotten all about him in the shock of all that had happened. 

"Sorry Michael" Claire said.

"It's fine Claire" Michael said.

**Sam was, at least, looking better with every passing second, but Amelie continued to press the makeshift bandage to the wound in his chest.**

Sam's hand crept up, clumsy and slow, to cover hers, and for a long few seconds they looked at each other silently, and then Amelie nodded and let go.

Sam held the bandage in place and, with Amelie's help, pulled himself to a sitting position. She helped him lean against the wall.

"It must have hurt" dad said.

"Oh it douse the first time or really anytime" Myrnin nodded.****

"Can you tell us what happened?" she asked him. Sam nodded, and Claire looked up to see Richard Morrell crouching down, notebook and pen at the ready.

"Richard must love his job or he would have given it up by now" Shane said.

Claire shrugged. "Or he just did what he had to do back then".****

Sam's voice, when it finally came, was soft and thin, and it was clearly an effort for him to speak at all. "Went to see Michael," he said.

Eve took Michaels hand and smiled at him.****

"But Michael was here, with us," Amelie said. "We summoned him during the night."

Sam's hand - the one not occupied holding the jacket to his chest - rose and fell, helplessly. "Sensed he wasn't home, so I backed out of the drive. Someone pulled open the car door - taser, couldn't fight back. Staked me while I was down."

"Cowed" Oliver hissed and Myrnin and Michael nodded.

"They knew what they were doing" Claire said. "They just didn't do it right".****

"Who?" Richard asked. Sam's eyes closed briefly, then opened.

"Poor dear" mum said.****

"Didn't see. Human. Heard the heartbeat." He swallowed. "Thirsty."

"Why didn't they give Sam any blood before now?" Eve asked.

"He needed to heal first" Michael said.****

"You must heal first," Amelie said. "A few more moments. Is there anything at all you can tell us about this human who attacked you?"

Sam's eyes opened again, with an effort. "He called me Michael."

"They should have looked better before they did it" dad frowned.

"They really should have" Claire nodded.****

Michael arrived just in time to hear that last part. He looked at Claire, wide-eyed, then crouched down beside Sam. "Who did? The one who did this?"

Sam shook his head. "I don't know who. Male, that's all I know. He used your name. I think he thought I was you." Sam's lips curled in the pale ghost of a smile. "Guess he didn't see the hair before he staked me."

"You would have thought that he would have" Myrnin said.

"Not in the dark" Claire pointed out.

"Oh yes" Myrnin nodded.****

The article in the newspaper. Captain Obvious. Somebody had decided to take out the newest vampire in town, and it was sheer luck that they'd gotten Sam instead. It could have been Michael lying in the street.

And from the look on Michael's face, he was thinking the exact same thing.

"I was thinking just that" Michael nodded.

"You're really lucky Michael" Shane said.

"You're telling me?" Michael said.****

Amelie was agitated. It wasn't really obvious, but Claire had seen her enough to know the difference.

Everyone even the vampires looked impressed.

"It took me years to do that" Myrnin said.

Claire blushed and shrugged. "I think it had something to do with the bracelet".

**She moved more swiftly, and there was something less calm than usual in her eyes. Claire shivered a little when Amelie summoned her into a side room. It was small and empty, probably some kind of meeting room. **

"How many meeting rooms douse this town need?" Eve asked.

"A lot" Michael said.

**Amelie didn't come alone; a tall blond vampire guy followed along and stood with his back to the door, a flesh-and-blood deadbolt. No getting out quickly, or at all, really.**

"What happened?" Amelie demanded.

"That was faster then I thought it would be" Eve said.

"I didn't think so" Shane said.****

"I don't know," Claire said. "I was asleep. I woke up when - " When I heard the sirens, she'd been about to say, but again, that wasn't really true. She'd felt something, a flash of alarm that had come out of nowhere. And Shane and Eve had felt it too. It normally would take a nuclear explosion to blast Shane out of sleep in the pre-dawn hours, but he'd been wide awake.

"The same thing as you girls happened to me" Shane said.

"We know Shane" Eve said.

**"It was like some alarm went off in the house."**

Amelie's face went very still and smooth. "Indeed."

"That helps" Shane said under his breath.

"Don't Shane" Claire said.****

"Why? Is that important?"

"Maybe. What else?"

"Nothing much else really happened" Eve said.****

"Nothing - we went downstairs. The sirens were going outside, and by the time we got down there it was all over, I guess. Sam was down on the road, and the cop was already there."

"You saw no one else."

"If I had I would have said right away" Claire sighed.

"Not if it was one of your little friends" Oliver said.****

Claire shook her head.

"And your friends?" Amelie asked. "Where were they?"

It wasn't a casual question. Claire felt her pulse speed up, and tried to stay calm. 

"I really hate it when I'm in a room with a vampire and that happens" Claire said.

"I think most humans are like that" Myrnin said.

**If Amelie didn't believe her ... "Asleep," she said firmly. "Shane was with me, and I saw Eve come out of her own room. They couldn't have done it."**

"Claire your wrong there" Michael said. "They could have done it without waking you not that they would have in the first place".

"Im happy that you added that last part" Eve said.****

Amelie shot her a look. Not one that made her feel any too secure. "I know how much you value their lives. But understand, Claire, if you lie for them, I will not forgive it."

"I'm not lying. They were in their rooms when I came out.[note:Shane was on the couch with Claire, not in his room] The only one missing was Michael, and he was here with you."

"Like Michael could have ever done that to Sam" Eve said.

"It's sickening to think about" Claire nodded.****

Amelie turned away from her and paced the length of the room in slow, graceful steps. She looked so perfect, so ... together. Claire couldn't help it, she blurted out, "Aren't you worried about Sam?"

"Sam is a vampire Claire" Myrnin said.

"I know it was just odd" Claire shrugged.****

"I am more concerned that whoever attacked him not receive another chance to do such harm," Amelie said. "Sam was old enough to survive such a thing - but only barely. If the stake had remained in his chest much longer, or the sun had burned him, he could not have survived.

"You would think that vampires could never die to look at them but that's not true" Claire said. "And the way that vampires can die is a lot more painful then what a human would be".

"I never thought about it in that way" Michael said after a moment.

**Had the assassin succeeded in attacking Michael, he would have died almost instantly. It would take decades for him to build up an immunity."**

Claire's mouth opened, shut, and opened again when she found the words. "You mean - vampires don't die from stakes in the heart?"

"You really are slow in the mornings" Eve said.

"Your one to talk" Claire rolled her eyes.

"I just need coffee and I'm right but you..." Eve said.

"Thanks Eve" Claire said.****

"I mean that it takes quite a lot to kill one of us," Amelie said. "More every year we survive. You could put a stake through my heart, and I would simply pull it out and be very annoyed with you for ruining my wardrobe.

"so douse that mea..." Shane said but didn't get to finish before Claire put her hand over his mouth to which he licked her hand.

"Shane!" Claire said wiping her hand on his shirt.

"Don't put your hand there then" Shane smirked but stoped very quickly when he saw her parent's faces.

"Let's keep reading" Claire said.

**If I failed to remove it within a few hours, it would damage me, perhaps seriously, but it would not destroy me in the way you're thinking. We are not so fragile, little Claire." Her teeth gleamed for a second like pearls as she smiled. "You would do well to tell your friends. Especially Shane."**

"But what about Brandon?" Eve asked.

"He was burnt with sunlight so that by the time they killed him he was more like a newborn" Myrnin said from behind the book. "And it would seem that Claire asked the same thing".****

"But - Brandon - "

"I forgot I asked that" Claire said.****

Amelie's smile faded. "He was tortured," she said. "Burned with sunlight to reduce his resistance. By the time he was murdered he had no more strength than a newborn. Shane's father understands us too well, you see."

"But that also means that Claire now understands just as much" Shane frowned.

"Why do you think I'm still alive?" Claire asked. "They know that if they were to kill me one of you would tell all of their secrets".

"That is only part of it" Myrnin said quietly.****

And now, so did Claire. Which probably wasn't good. "The cops took Shane and Eve to the police station. I don't want anything to happen to them."

"You shouldn't be worried about me and Eve" Shane said. "We would have been ok".

"Like you wouldn't be worried if you were you were" Claire pointed out.

"Claire has a point" Eve said.****

"I'm sure you don't. As I did not want anything to happen to my dear Samuel, who would willingly die for the rights of breathers in this town." Amelie's tone had gone cold and dark, and it gave Claire a deep-down trembling in her stomach. "I wonder if I have been too lenient. Allowed too much freedom."

"At least now days were safer" Claire said.

"You are but were not as safe as you" Eve said.

"I'm just as safe as you Eve" Claire sighed.****

"You don't own us," Claire whispered, and it seemed like the bracelet around her wrist tightened all of a sudden, pinching. She grabbed at it, wincing.

Claire rubbed her writs. "I really hated it when it did that".

"Then you should have kept your mouth shut then" Oliver said coldly.****

"Do I not?" Amelie asked coolly. She exchanged a glance with the vampire at the door. "Let her leave. I am done with her."

He bowed slightly and stepped out of the way. Claire resisted the urge to lunge for the exit. Being in the same room with Amelie, never mind her guard, was scary and intense, but she needed to at least try. "About Shane and Eve - "

"Claire do you really want to die or something?" Shane groaned.

"I had to" Claire shrugged.****

"I don't interfere in human justice," Amelie said. "If they are innocent, then they will be released. Go now. I shall expect you to attend to Myrnin today, and I have arranged for some additional classes at university for you to attend. A list has been provided to you at your home this morning."

"If you think about it, it's weird how stuff just turned up and then vanished" Eve said.

"Vampire's love to do things like that" Claire shrugged.****

Claire hesitated.

"Death wish" Shane sighed.

"Shane if I wouldn't to die then I would annoy Oliver" Claire said. "Or just ask him to kill me".

"How much thought have you put in to this?" Eve asked.

"That was just of the top of my head" Claire shrugged.****

"Sam was supposed to take me to Myrnin - who's going to - "

"Perhaps not the best thing to ask when our dear Amelie is in a mood" Myrnin said.****

Amelie spun on her, and there was something wild and terrible in her eyes. "Little fool, don't bother me with trivia! Go now!"

Claire ran.

"How brave of you" Oliver rolled his eyes and Myrnin ignored him and read.****

The house was empty when she arrived. No Shane, no Eve, and she hadn't seen Michael again at the Elder's Council building before Hans and Gretchen had bundled her off. 

"I was still with Sam" Michael said.

"It's fine" Claire said. "I got home ok".

**Claire felt very alone, and she locked all the doors and made sure of all the windows.**

"Good idea in any time of day and night" Shane said.

"Not that, that would stop Oliver, Amelie and Myrnin from visiting" Claire said.****

The house felt ... warm, somehow. Not in the hot-air sense, but cozy. Welcoming. Claire put her hand flat on the wall in the living room. "Can you hear me?" she asked, and then felt stupid. It was just a house, right? Just wood and bricks and concrete and wiring and pipes. How could it hear her?

"You're just tired dear" mum said.

"Trust me mum this house is alive" Claire said.****

But she couldn't shake the feeling that the house had jabbed her awake this morning, her and Shane and Eve. That it had been trying to warn them. The house had saved Michael, after all, when he'd been killed by Oliver; it had given him what life it could, as a ghost. It wanted to help.

"I wish you could talk," she said. "I wish you could tell me who tried to kill Sam."

"I wonder what it would say." Eve said.

"Paint me" Shane joked.****

But it couldn't, and she was talking to a dumbass wall. Claire sighed, turned away, and caught a glimpse of a piece of paper stirring in a breeze.

A breeze that wasn't there.

"See mum the house was showing me the paper" Claire said.

Claire's parents frowned.****

The paper was lying on the table, on top of Michael's guitar case. Claire grabbed it and read it, barely daring to believe –

"Claire your more crazy then normal that day" Eve said.

"Thanks Eve" Claire sighed. ****

What was she thinking? That the house was going to provide her with the name of Sam's would-be Van Helsing? Of course not. It wasn't an answer to her question.

"Poor Claire" Oliver rolled his eyes.

"What is this bet up on Claire day?" Claire sighed.****

It was a class schedule printout, stamped AMENDED in big red letters. Her core classes were mostly gone; the notation next to them showed that she'd tested out.

What caught her attention, though, was what had been scheduled in their place. Advanced Biochem.

"That's a good class" Claire said.

**Philosophical Studies.**

"I like that one to" Claire said.

"You like anything to do with learning" Shane said.

**Quantum Mechanics. Honors Myth & Legend.**

"There both good" Claire said.****

Wow. Was it wrong that she felt her heart skip a beat over that? 

"You're like in love with school" Eve said.

"Yeah even more then me" Shane joked.

"Don't be stupid" Claire rolled her eyes.

**Claire checked the times, then her watch. She barely had an hour until the first new class, but she couldn't go yet. Not until she'd heard from Shane and Eve.**

Thirty minutes later she was on the phone, trying to get somebody to answer her questions at the police station, when she heard the locks rattle on the door and Eve's voice saying, " - dumbass," and the knot of fear in Claire's chest began to loosen. "Yo, Claire! You here?"

"I love Eve's greetings" Shane said. "There different".

"I don't know about different" Michael said.****

"Here," she said, and hung up to come down the hall toward them.

Eve had her arm around Shane, half-supporting him. Claire blinked and focused on his face. At the swelling and bruises. 

"You just had to mouthing off to the cops didn't you?" Eve said.

"They started it" Shane said.

Claire and Eve rolled their eyes.

**"Oh God," she said, and hurried to his side to help Eve. "What happened?"**

"Well, Big Man here decided to get a little shirty with Officer Fenton. You ever see Bambi Versus Godzilla? It was like that, only with more punches," Eve said. She sounded false and bright, like tinsel. "I tried to take him to the hospital and get checked out, but - "

"I'm fine," Shane gritted out. "I've had worse."

"That's really true" Shane grimaced.

"Your really didn't want to know that" Claire sighed.****

Probably true, but Claire still felt painfully helpless. She wanted to do something. Anything. She and Eve got Shane to the couch, where he collapsed against the cushions and closed his eyes.

"I love that couch" Shane smiled and pointed to the couch that Eve and Michael were sitting on.

"To much information man" Michael said.

**He looked pale, under the bruises. Claire stroked his matted hair anxiously, silently asking Eve what to do; Eve shrugged and mouthed, just let him rest. She looked scared, though.**

"He should have been taking to the hospital" mum said.

"I'm not really in to hospitals" Shane shrugged. ****

"Shane," Eve said aloud. "Seriously, I don't want to leave you here alone. You need to go to the hospital."

"Thanks, Mom," he said. "It's bruises. I think I'll live. Go on, get out of here." He reached up and captured Claire's hand, and his dark eyes opened. Well, one of them. The other was swelling shut. "What happened to you? You okay?"

"I'm always fine" Claire said.

Shane, Michael and Eve rolled their eyes.****

"Nothing happened, I'm fine. I talked to Amelie." Claire pulled in a deep breath. "Sam's going to be okay, I think."

"And Michael? Michael was all right?" Eve asked.

"Peachy" Michael said.****

"Yeah, he was all right. I'm sorry I couldn't get you out any earlier. Amelie - " Probably best not to get into how not-bothered Amelie had been by the idea of Eve and Shane behind bars. 

"Yes somehow I can see that going badly" Myrnin said.

**"She was busy with Sam."**

"Which is true" dad said.

"In a way yes" Claire said.****

Eve shrugged and shot Shane an exasperated look. "We probably would've been out of there in ten minutes if he'd behaved himself," she said. "Look, Shane, I know you're a hard-ass, but do you have to pick a fight with every jerk in the world? Can't you just choose half or something?"

"Or none of them" Claire said.

"It's in my nature" Shane shrugged.

"No it's not" Claire said. "But it's been made in to it".****

"The scary thing? I do only pick fights with half of them. That's how many there are." He groaned and adjusted himself to a more comfortable position on the couch. 

"Not that it was really comfortable anyway" Shane said.

"I thought you said you loved it?" Claire said.

"I do" Shane said. "But it was still painful".

**"Crap. Officer Asshole can really hit."**

"To true" Shane grimaced.

**"Shane," Claire said, "really. Are you okay? I can take you to the hospital if you're not."**

"Shane's to tough for all that" Eve rolled her eyes.

"You know me Eve" Shane joked.****

"They'd just give me an ice pack and send me home, minus a hundred bucks I don't have." He caught her hand in his. His knuckles were scraped. "What about you? Nothing bitten or broken, right?"

"I think you would have known if it had" Claire said.

"You know for everything that had happened to Claire I don't think she has ever broken something" Eve said.

"I think your right Eve" Michael nodded.****

"No," she said softly. "Nothing bitten or broken. They're angry, and they're worried, but nobody tried to hurt me." She checked her watch, and her heart skipped and hammered faster. 

"Over class to" Eve shock her head.

"They were my new classes and I really wanted to see what they would be like" Claire shrugged.

**"Um - I have to go. I have class. You're sure you're - "**

"If you ask me if I'm okay again, I'm going to smack myself in the face just to punish you," he said. "Go on. Eve, make sure she doesn't go wandering off by herself, okay?"

"Sort of hard to do when I'm in class and Eve's at work but anyway" Claire said.

"It worked out" Eve said. "In a way".****

Eve already had her keys in her hand, and she was jingling them impatiently. "I'll do my best," Eve said. "Hey. This came special delivery for you." She tossed Claire a package with her name neatly lettered on it. Same handwriting, Claire thought, as the package that had held her bracelet.

"You're good at hand writing to" Michael said.

"No just that hand writing" Claire said.****

This one held a sleek new cell phone, complete with MP3 player and a tiny little flip-open keypad for texting. It was on, and it was fully charged.

"Why can't I have a phone like that?" Eve groaned.

"You didn't sign your body and soul away" Claire shrugged.

"Good point" Eve said.****

The note said, simply, for safety. The signature, of course, was Amelie's. Eve saw it, and raised her eyebrows. Claire quickly crumpled it up.

"Do I even want to know what that is?" Shane asked.

"I think you had a pretty good idea of what it was" Claire said.

"Yeah" Shane nodded. "But I was hoping that it was just a nightmare".****

"Probably not," Eve said. "Claire, little girls who take candy from strangers in Morganville get hurt. Or worse."

"She's not a stranger," Claire said. "And I really need a phone."

"We would have bought you one" mum said.

"But then I would have had to make up this big story about my old one" Claire said.

"Oh, yes but still" mum frowned.****

The classes were nothing like Claire had experienced before. It was as if she'd finally come to school ... from the first moment of the first class, the professors seemed bright, engaged, they seemed to see her.

"Finely someone was seeing what I could do and giving me a proper class" Claire smiled.

Everyone but Claire's parent and Myrnin shock there heads.

**Even better, they challenged her.**

"I love that feeling" Claire said.

"Of course you do" Shane said.

**She fumbled her way nervously through Advanced Biochem, made notes of the books she needed, and did the same in Philosophy. There was a lot of talking in Philosophy, and she didn't understand half of it, but it sounded a lot more interesting than the droning voices of her core class instructors.**

"That can be one of the worst things about school" Eve said. "Boring teacher voces".

"Or the hole of school" Shane said.****

She felt exhilarated by the time her late lunch break rolled around ... she felt, in fact, alive. She was happy as she hunted for used copies of the textbooks she needed, and even happier when she discovered that, mysteriously, she had a scholarship account set up to cover the costs. 

"I don't think I would call it much of a mystery" Eve said.

Claire blushed and shrugged.

**It even came with its own cash card.**

"You never told me that" Eve said and Shane nodded.

"What so you can spend it all?" Claire rolled her eyes.

"She has a point" Michael said.****

She bought a new long-sleeve tee shirt, too. And some disposable razors. And some shampoo.

Scary, how good it felt having money in her pocket.

"I love that feeling" Shane said.

"I think most people do" Michael said.****

By the time three p.m. rolled around, she was starting to wonder if she was expected to head out for Myrnin's house on her own, but she decided to wait. 

"That was a good idea" Claire said.

**Nobody had told her of a change of plan, so she headed over to the U.C. to get in some study time while she waited. The big main study room was packed, and somebody was playing guitar in the corner of the room - quite a big crowd over there, clapping between songs. **

"I wonder who that could have been" Eve said looking at Michael

"Funny Eve" Michael said.

**Whoever it was played well - something complicated and classical, then a pop song right after. Claire was spreading out her books on the table when she heard a song that sounded familiar, and stood up on her chair to get a better look over the heads of the people gathered in the corner.**

"I hate being short" Claire said.

"I know" Myrnin said before reading.****

As she'd suspected, it was Michael. He was sitting down to play, but she could see his head and shoulders. He looked up and met her eyes, nodded, then went back to focus on the music. 

"Sorry I couldn't do much more then that" Michael said.

"You were busy" Claire shrugged.

**Claire jumped down, wiped her dusty footprints off of the wooden chair, and sat. Her brain was racing. Michael was here. Why? Was it just a coincidence? Or was it something else?**

"I was right about that" Claire said.

"You worked it out fast" Shane said.

"It was the logical guise" Claire said.

"I love logic" Myrnin said randomly before reading.****

She sat down and tried to concentrate on the properties of low frequency wave modes in magnetized plasma, which was frankly pretty cool. 

"What and a what?" Eve asked.

"It's too hard to explain right now" Claire said.

**The physics of stars.**

"Yep that's helpful" Eve joked.

"At least you know what it's about" Shane said.

"Sadly you have a point" Eve agreed.

**She couldn't wait for the lab demonstrations ... the reading was slow going, but interesting. It linked to another thing about plasma physics that had caught her attention: **

"Yes I thought it might have" Myrnin nodded looking over the book.

"Why what is it?" mum asked.

"Something to do with the door ways" Claire said.

**Confinement and transport. It might have been coincidence, but somehow she felt like there was something there she ought to understand. Something that related to what Myrnin had been telling her about Recomposition, which was a key element in Alchemy. Was it possible there really was a link between the two?**

Myrnin smiled. "Very good".

"You're a good teacher" Claire shrugged. "Most of the time anyway".

Shane glared at Myrnin.****

Plasma is charged particles. It can be controlled and influenced by shaped magnetic fields. Plasma was the raw state between matter and energy ... between one form and another.

"Reconstitution" Oliver nodded.

**Reconstitution.**

"Oliver how did you know that?" Claire asked.

"When you know this fool for as long as I do you learn things" Oliver said, glaring at Myrnin.

"That just proved that Myrnin is a good teacher if he can teach Oliver that" Eve said as Oliver glared at her and Myrnin looked smug.****

It hit her, suddenly, what Myrnin had discovered. The doorways. They were shaped magnetic fields, holding a tiny, pliable field of plasma held in a steady state. 

"Oh" dad said. "I understand now".

"really?" Claire asked surprised.

Dad nodded. "I do understand sciences Claire".

"Sorry daddy" Claire blushed.

**But how did he make them into portable wormholes? Because that was what they had to be, to bend space like that ... and the plasma couldn't be regular plasma, could it? Low-heat plasma? Was that even possible?**

"Opened mines Claire" Myrnin said.

"At the lab yes but in normal day no" Claire said.

Myrnin shook his head. "They should always be opened to new things".****

Claire was so absorbed that she didn't even hear the chair scrape back across from her, didn't know someone had sat down, until a hand grabbed the book propped in front of her and pushed it down.

"Let me guise" Eve sighed. "Jason?"

Claire nodded. "Sadly yes".

Eve and Shane groaned.****

"Hey, Claire," said Jason, Eve's nutty brother. He looked weaselly and pale - not Goth-pale, sick-pale. Anemic.

"He really should see a doctor" mum said.

"He's a lot better now" Claire said. "But he still dreams of being a vampire".

Eve sighed sadly.

**There were crusty sores on his neck, and his eyes were wide and red-veined, and he looked high. Really, crazy high. He also hadn't had a bath or been near a Laundromat in a few days or weeks; he smelled filthy and rotten. Ugh. **

"Ugh was the word for it" Claire said.

"That bad?" Shane asked.

Claire nodded.

**"How you doing?"**

"He seems friendly" mum said.

"He's not" Eve, Shane, Claire and Michael sighed.

**She couldn't quite think what the right move would be. Scream? She closed the book and held on to it - it was pretty heavy, and would make a decent blunt object - and darted a look around. The U.C. was filled with people. Granted, Michael's playing was the center of attention at the moment, but there were plenty of others walking around, talking, studying.**

"It was a little like back at high school with Amy picking on me" Claire sighed. "You get ignored because they don't want to be like you".

"That's just stupid" Shane said.

**From where she sat, Claire could see Eve at the coffee bar, smiling and pulling espresso shots.**

"Not that I could really help you at that point" Eve said.

"It's ok Eve" Claire said.****

It was like Jason was invisible or something. Nobody was paying him the slightest bit of attention.

"Hi," she said. "What do you want?"

"World peace," he said. "You're pretty."

"I'm really not" Claire said.

Just about everyone rolled their eyes. I think you can tell who didn't.****

You're really not. She didn't, and couldn't, say it. She just waited. I'm perfectly safe here. There are a lot of people, Michael's right over there, and Eve ...

"Sorry" both Michael and Eve said.

"Don't worry about it" Claire shrugged.****

"Did you hear me?" Jason asked. "I said, you're pretty."

"Next time I see Jason I'm going to hit him" Eve said.

"He wasn't in his right mind Eve" Claire said.

"Yes but still" Eve said.****

"Thank you." Her mouth felt dry. She was scared, and she couldn't even think why, really, except what Eve had told her about Jason. He did look dangerous. Those scabs on his throat - had he been bitten? 

"I wouldn't have been surprised" Eve said.

Mum and dad were starting to look worried.

**"I have to go."**

"I'll walk you to class," Jason said. Somehow, he made that sound filthy, like some porn movie come-on. "I always wanted to carry some hot college girl's books."

"Eve I'll join you when you go to see your brother" Shane said.

"Deal" Eve said. "But I get the first punch".****

"No," she said. "I can't. I mean - I'm not going to class. But I have to go." And why couldn't she just tell him to leave her alone? Why?

"You were just scared" mum said.

"I still was after to" Claire said.****

Jason blew her a kiss.

Claire grimaced and Shane, Myrnin frowned at the book.

**"Go on. But don't blame me when the next dead girl shows up in the trash because you wouldn't do me a simple favour."**

"Guilt trip" Michael said.

"That's just low" Shane said.****

She was in the act of standing up when he said it, and she just ... stopped. Stopped moving, and stared. "What?" she asked, stupidly. Her brain, which had been moving at light speed while skipping from one physics problem to the next, felt sluggish now. "What did you say?"

"A little slow are we?" Eve said trying to joke.

"You would have been to" Claire said.****

"Not that I did anything. But if I had, I'd be planning another one. Unless somebody talked to me and convinced me to stop, for instance. Or I made a deal."

Claire felt cold. Worse, she felt alone. Jason wasn't doing anything - he was just sitting there, talking. But she felt violated, and horribly exposed. 

"Just about everyone in Morganville knows that feeling" Shane said.

**Michael's right over there. You can hear him playing. He's right there. You're safe.**

"Sorry I didn't see anything" Michael said.

"I was ok" Claire said. "More scared then anything".

Eve, Shane and Michael gave her a look but didn't speak.****

"All right," she said, and swallowed a mouthful of what felt like dust and tacks. She sank slowly back into her chair. "I'm listening."

"Not that you really had much of a choices" Shane said.****

Jason leaned forward, rested his arms on the table, and lowered his voice. "See, it's like this, Claire. I want my big sister to understand what she did to me when she sent me to that place. You know what a jail is like in Morganville? It's like some third-world country threw it out for prisoner abuse. Eve put me there. And she didn't even try to save me."

"Don't look like that Eve" Shane said. "It's not your fault that he's like he is".

Eve nodded but didn't speak.****

Claire's fingers felt numb, she was holding her book so tightly. She forced herself to relax. "I'm sorry," she said. "That must have been bad."

"Jason's not going to like that" Michael said.

"Oh he didn't" Claire nodded.****

"Bad? Bitch, are you even listening?" 

"Is it just me or did he just sound like Monica?" Shane asked.

"Hay he did too" Eve nodded.

"Scary thought" Claire said.

**He kept on staring at her, and it was like he was dead or something, he never blinked. "I was supposed to be his, you know. Brandon's. He was going to make me a vampire someday, but now he's dead, and I'm screwed. Now I'm just waiting around for somebody to put me back in jail, and guess what, Claire? I'm not going. Not without a little fun first."**

"I don't even want to know what he calls fun" Shane said.

"I think you already have a good idea on what he's fun is like" Claire said.****

He grabbed her wrist, and she opened her mouth to scream ...

"To bad you didn't get the chances" Michael said.

Claire nodded.****

... And all of a sudden he had a knife, and he was pressing it to her wrist. "Hold still," he said. "I'm not done talking. You move, you bleed."

"Not like I wasn't going to bleed anyway" Claire sighed and her mum and dad looked more worried.****

She was going to yell anyway, but when it made it to her lips it died into a weak little yelp. Jason smiled, and he tossed a filthy-looking handkerchief on top of her wrist and the knife, covering it up. 

"Smart" Oliver said.

"Thanks for the support Oliver" Claire sighed.

**"There," he said. "Now nobody's going to notice, not that they'd care. Not in Morganville. But just in case there are any dumbass heroes, let's keep this between just us."**

She was shaking now. "Let me go." Somehow, her voice stayed low and steady. "I won't say anything."

"Claire is good at talking people out of doing things" Myrnin said.

"And it's luck that I am" Claire said. "To bad I didn't do it back then".****

"Oh, come on. You'll run to your friends, and then you'll run to the cops. Probably those two dicks Hess and Lowe. They've been out to get me since I was a kid, did you know that? Sons of bitches." 

"Only because he never did anything he was told to do" Eve sighed.

"It's not your fault Eve" Michael said.

**He was sweating. A milky drop ran down the side of his pale face and splashed on his camouflage jacket. "I hear you're in good with the vamps. That true?"**

"Sadly" Shane said.

"Shane please don't start" Claire said.****

"What?" The knife pressed harder against her wrist, hot and painful, and she thought about how easy it would be for him to cut right through her veins. 

"You just had to think like that" mum said.

"Sorry mum, dad" Claire said.

**Her whole arm was shaking, but somehow, she managed to hold still against an overwhelming urge to try to yank her wrist away. **

"I don't think I would have stopped myself from doing it" Eve said.

"Luckily you weren't were I was then" Claire said.

**It would only do the job for him. "I'm - yes. I'm Protected. You'll get in trouble for this, Jason."**

"Very big trouble yes" Myrnin nodded.****

He had a truly creepy smile, a rubbery snarl that didn't affect his hot, strange eyes at all. "I was born in trouble," he said. "Bring it on. You tell whatever vamp put the mark on you that I know something.

"That's nice now let Claire go" Shane said.

"I don't think that would have helped much" Claire said.

**Something that could blow this town in half. And I'll sell it for two things: rights to do whatever I want to my sister, and a ticket out of Morganville."**

"He was really going to kill me then" Eve asked.

"I don't know if killing you would have been just like that" Claire grimaced.

"I don't want to think about it" Eve said, looking sick.****

Oh God oh God oh God. He wanted to bargain. For Eve's life.

"I'm not making any deals," she said, and knew it was probably a death sentence. "I'm not going to let you hurt Eve."

"Thanks Claire" Eve smiled at Claire but still looked sick.

"Don't worry about it Eve" Claire said.****

He actually blinked. It made him look almost human, for a second, and she remembered that he wasn't much older than her. "How you going to stop me, cupcake? Hit me with your book bag?"

"It really douse sound silly when you say it like that" Eve said.

"But it would have looked funny" Shane said.****

"If I have to."

He sat back, staring at her, and then he laughed. Loudly. 

"You know I think I might have heard that" Eve said thoughtfully.

"It was pretty loud" Claire said.

**It was a harsh, metallic clatter of a laugh, and she thought, oh God he's going to kill me, **

"Jason may be an idiot but he's not that stupid" Shane said.

"That would have been great to know back then" Claire said.

**But then he lifted up the handkerchief covering her wrist and like a magic trick, the knife was gone. There was a trickle of blood dripping from the shallow cut in her skin, and she was starting to feel the burn.**

Mum and dad frowned at the book.

"It wasn't that bad" Claire said. "And it was only a little bit of blood".

But Claire's parents still didn't look to happy.****

"You know what, Claire?" Jason asked. He got up, stuck his hands in his jacket pockets, and smiled at her again. "I'm going to like you a lot. You're a scream."

"Nice to know" Claire rolled her eyes.****

He strolled off, and Claire tried to get up and see where he was going, but she couldn't. Her knees wouldn't cooperate. He was out of sight in seconds.

"He did it like a vampire to" Claire said. "It was creepy".

"I think I can see why" Shane nodded.****

Claire looked at the coffee bar. Eve was standing there, motionless, staring right at her with huge dark eyes, and even without the Goth rice powder she'd have been pale as death.

"Sorry I didn't help but I only saw him walk away" Eve said.

"I was ok Eve" Claire said.****

Eve mouthed, You okay?

Claire nodded.

She really wasn't, though, and the cut on her wrist wouldn't stop bleeding. 

"Good blood flow" Oliver said and Myrnin nodded.

"Yep that wasn't creepy at all" Eve rolled her eyes.

**She dug in her backpack and found an adhesive bandage -she always kept them, just in case she got blisters on her feet from all the walking. That seemed to do the trick.**

She was smoothing it in place when she felt someone standing over her, and jumped, expecting the return of Jason, complete with psycho stabbing attack.

"That's it no more movie night for you" Shane said.

"Thanks Shane" Claire said.****

But It was Michael. 

"Good" mum and dad said.

**He had his guitar case in his hand, and he looked -great. Relaxed, somehow, in a way that she'd never really seen him. There was even a slight flush of colour in his face, and his eyes were shining.**

"I really love playing" Michael smiled.

"We know Michael" Claire smiled at him.****

But that quickly faded, and he frowned. "You're bleeding," he said.

"I just thought of something else that it could have been" Eve said.

"Don't worry I thought the same thing" Claire said as most of the men in the room looked confused.

**"What happened?"**

Claire sighed and held up her wrist to show him the bandage. "Man, you would be so embarrassed if I said it was something else." 

"You just had to say that Claire" Shane and Michael said.

"It's true" Claire said.

"Oh, I get it" Myrnin said and Oliver looked like he wished he had never got out of bed.

**Michael looked blank. "I'm a girl, Michael, it could have been all natural, you know. Tampons?"**

Just about every man blushed.

"Sorry guys" Claire said blushing to.****

Vampire or not, he was such a guy, and his expression was priceless -a combination of embarrassment and nausea. 

"So just like right now then" Eve said looking at Michael and Shane who looked the same way.

"Yep" Claire nodded.

**"Oh crap, I hadn't really thought that through. Sorry. Not really used to this yet. So - what happened?"**

"Paper cut," she said.

"Like that was going to work on me" Michael rolled his eyes.

"It was the first thing to come in to my head" Claire shrugged.

"Even I can think of something better then that" Shane and Eve said.****

"Claire."

She sighed. "Don't freak, okay? It was Eve's brother, Jason. I think he just wanted to scare me."

"And he did a good job of that" Eve said. "I'm so going to slap him".

"Like I said" Claire sighed. "He was high and not thinking right".

"I don't care" Eve said. "I'm still going to yell at him".****

Michael's eyes widened, and his head turned fast, searching the coffee bar for Eve. When he saw her, the relief that spread over his face was painful - and it didn't last long before it curdled into something grim. "I can't believe he'd come here. Why can't they catch this jerk?"

"Good question" Shane said looking at the older vampires.

"Don't bother asking Shane" Claire said. "They want tell you the truth".****

"Maybe somebody doesn't want to," she said. "He's only killing human girls. If he's the one doing it." Although he'd pretty much confessed, hadn't he? And the knife was a big clue. 

"A little bigger than just a clue I would say" dad frowned.

"Dad I didn't even get a scar from it" Claire said looking at her wrist.

"I don't care" dad said. "He still hurt you".

**"We can talk about it later. I need to get - " She remembered, just in time, that she couldn't talk to Michael about Myrnin. "Get to class," she said. She hadn't really thought Amelie would make her go alone, and she wasn't sure she could do it. Myrnin was fascinating, most of the time, but then when he turned ... **

"When he turned he went all the way to crazy town" Eve finished.

Myrnin ignored her and read.

**No, she couldn't go alone. What if something happened? Sam wouldn't be there to help get him off her.**

Eve and Michael started to cough.

"What now?" Claire sighed. "Or I should say do I really want to know?"

"I don't think you do" Michael said as Eve giggled next to him.****

Michael didn't move. "I know where you're going," he said. "I'm your ride."

She blinked. "You're - what?"

"Really Claire?" Eve rolled her eyes.

"I was surprised that Amelie had told Michael in the first let alone be driving me" Claire said.**  
**

"Claire sort of has a point" Shane said.

**He lowered his voice, even though nobody was paying attention. "I'll take you where you're supposed to go. And I'll wait for you."**

Amelie had told him, Claire found out on the way to Michael's new car. She'd needed to, apparently; she hadn't trusted any vampire but Sam with the information and access to Myrnin, but Michael had an investment in Claire's wellbeing, and Sam was going to be out of action for a couple of days at least. "But he's okay?" Claire asked.

"Last time I had seen him he was sleeping" Michael said.

"At least he got some rest" mum said.****

Michael opened the door to the parking garage for her, an automatic gesture that he'd probably learned from his grandfather, once upon a time. He had some of Sam's mannerisms, and they had the same walk.

"I always thought that" Eve nodded.

**Funny how she was just starting to notice that.**

"I think it was because you had been around them both" dad said.

"Yeah" Claire nodded. "That makes scenes".

**"Yeah," Michael said. "He nearly died, though. People - vampires - are pretty wired right now. They want the one who staked him, and they don't really care how it happens. I made Shane promise to keep his ass inside, and not to go out alone."**

"You really think he'll keep his word?"

"You know me to well" Shane said.

"I should hope so" Claire said and her parents frowned at them both.****

Michael shrugged and opened the door of a standard-issue dark vampire-tinted sedan, exactly the same as the one Sam had driven. A Ford, as it happened. Nice to know the vamps were buying American. "I tried," he said. "Shane doesn't listen to much anything I have to say anymore."

"Sorry Michael it was just I was still getting over it and everything" Shane said.

"Its fine man" Michael shrugged it off.****

Claire got into the car and buckled in. As Michael climbed in the driver's side, she said, "It's not your fault. He's just not dealing with it very well. I don't know what we can do about that."

"Not much" Shane sighed.****

"Nothing," Michael said, and started the car. "We can't do anything about it at all."

"It's odd to hear Michael give up like that" Eve said.

"He has a good point" Claire said.****

It was a short drive, of course, and as far as Claire could tell from the dimly seen streets outside Michael took the same route Sam had to the alley, and Myrnin's cave. 

"I don't have a cave" Myrnin said.

"Sorry Myrnin" Claire said not really thinking.

**Michael parked the car at the curb. When she got out, though, Claire realized something, and bent to look into the dim interior of the car, and ducked back inside.**

"Oh, the sun" Eve said.

Michael nodded.****

"Crap," she said. "You can't come inside, can you? You can't go out in the sun!"

Michael shook his head. "I'm supposed to wait out here for you until the sun goes down, then I'll come in. Amelie said she'd make sure you were safe until then."

Claire winced thinking about how that happened.

"Somehow I think something is going to happen" Shane frowned.

"In a way" Claire sighed.****

"But - " Claire bit her lip. It wasn't Michael's fault. There were about three hours of sun left, so she was just going to have to watch her own back for a while. "Okay. See you after dark."

"What did you do when you were waiting for me?" Claire asked Michael.

"Wrote some music or read the paper" Michael shrugged.

"So that's what happened to the paper" Shane said. "I was looking for it".****

She closed the car door. When she straightened up she saw that Gramma Katherine Day was on the porch of her big Founder's house, rocking and sipping what looked like iced tea.

"She makes good ice tea to" Shane said.

"I like her baking better" Eve said.

**Claire waved. Gramma Day nodded.**

"You bein' careful?" she called.

"I do try to be but things get in the way" Claire said.

"We really don't want to hear that honey" dad said.

"Sorry dad" Claire said.****

"Yes ma'am!"

"At least your pilot" mum smiled.****

"I told the Queen, I don't like her putting you down there with that thing. I told her," Gramma Day said, with a fierce stab of her finger for emphasis.

Eve laughed. "Sorry I'm just thinking about what it must have looked like".

"Right" Shane said.

**"You come on up here and have some iced tea with me, girl. That thing down there, he'll wait. He don't know where he is half the time, anyway."**

"She is true about that" Myrnin said.

"But at least your better now" Claire said and Shane frowned.****

Claire smiled and shook her head. "I can't, ma'am, I'm supposed to be there on time. Thank you, though." She turned toward the alley, then had a thought. "Oh - who's the Queen?"

"Who do you think?" Oliver rolled his eyes.

"I wasn't really thinking" Claire said.****

Gramma made an impatient fly-waving gesture. "Her, of course. The White Queen. You're just like Alice, you know. Down the rabbit hole with the Mad Hatter."

"So true" Eve nodded.

"Thanks Eve" Claire rolled her eyes.****

Claire didn't dare think about that too much, because the phrase off with her head! loomed way too close.

"It douse to" Eve said.

"That would have been really comforting" Claire said.

**She gave Gramma Day another polite smile and wave, hitched her backpack higher on her shoulder, and went to Night School.**

"Interesting name for it" Myrnin said closing the book.

"food!" Shane said just about running in to the kitchen.

"And he's off" Michael joked walking in to the kitchen.

Everyone followed for lunch and blood for the vampires.

_**Sorry about the wait but it was really long chapter with 11,434 words and I have had all this homework and test's all week so sorry. Hope you liked it please review :) **_


	8. Chapter 8

After lunch everyone came back in to the living room so that they could read the next chapter.

"Ok so who's reading?" Claire asked.

"I believe that it is my turn" Oliver sighed taking the book and reading.

"**Chapter 8" **Oliver read.

**Amelie had made sure she was safe, all right. She'd done it by locking Myrnin up.**

"Did you get a photo" Shane asked.

"Don't push it Collins" Myrnin glared at Shane.

Oliver rolled his eyes and went back to reading.****

Claire dropped her backpack at the bottom of the stairs she always put it where it was easy to grab in mid-run –

"A very smart move" Michael said.

"This is Claire were talking about" Eve said, making Claire blush.

"Thanks Eve" Claire blushed.

**And spotted a new addition to the lab: a cage. And Myrnin was inside of it.**

Mum and dad stared from the book back to Myrnin.

"I felt so bad for you Myrnin" Claire said.

"It was for you safety" Myrnin shrugged. "I understand it and I believe that it was the right choices in the end".****

"Oh my God She took a few steps toward him, navigating around the usual haphazard stacks of books, and bit her lip. 

"Not to hard I hope" mum said.

"Don't worry mum" Claire sighed.

**It was, as far as she could tell, the same cage that the vampires had used to lock up Shane in Founder's Square heavy black bars, and the whole thing was on wheels. Vampire-proof, hopefully.**

"Vampire proof yes but not Myrnin proof" Claire said.

"I never realised how strong he was" Eve said.

Myrnin looked smug but didn't speak.

**Whoever had locked Myrnin in had been nice enough to give him a whole pile of books, and a comfy (if threadbare) tangle of blankets and faded pillows. He was lounging in the corner on the cushions, with a pair of old-fashioned Benjamin Franklin-style glasses perched on the end of his hooked nose. He was reading.**

"I don't see why you bother wearing them" Claire shook her head. "You're a vampire you don't need them".

"I like them" Myrnin shrugged.****

"You're late," he said, as he turned a page. Claire's mouth opened and closed, but she couldn't think of a thing to say. "Oh, don't fret about the cage.

"Only Myrnin could say something like that" Claire said.

"Is that a complement?" Myrnin asked and then shrugged. "I think I will take it as one".

"You do that" Claire said.

**It's for your precaution, of course. Since Samuel isn't here to watch over you." He turned another page, but his eyes weren't moving to follow text. **

"And the point of pretending is?" Eve asked.

"I had been reading beforehand" Myrnin shrugged but didn't really answer Eve.

**He was pretending to read, and somehow, that was worse than heartbreaking.**

Shane blinked and then glared at Myrnin who was looking surprised but happy.

"I wasn't expecting that" Eve said and Michael nodded.

Claire blushed. "I would have felt the same way if it had of been any of you".

Eve and Michael were still looking surprised but they didn't say anything.

**"Amelie's idea. I can't say that I really approve."**

"I agree" mum said and dad nodded.****

She finally was able to say, "I'm sorry."

"You would say sorry to bishop" Eve said.

"Even I'm not that nice" Claire said.****

Myrnin shrugged and closed the book, which he dropped with a bang on the pile next to him. "I've been in cages before this," he said. 

"Not the best memories" Myrnin said sadly.

"At least you don't have to be in one anymore" Claire said.

"That is a plus" Myrnin nodded.

**"And no doubt I will be let out once your appointed guardian is here to chaperone.**

"Or beforehand" Claire said under her breath.

"I don't think I ever said sorry for that" Myrnin said making the humans look confused about what they were talking about.

"What are you talking about?" Shane asked looking between the two of them.

"I would say that it will be happing soon" Claire sighed.

**In the meantime, let's continue with our instruction. Pull a chair close. You'll excuse me if I don't get up, but I'm a bit taller than He reached up and rapped the bars overhead. **

"Another thing that I don't like about cages" Myrnin said. "The small space".

"It would be troublesome with your height" mum said.

"And I am not inclined with smell spaces" Myrnin said.

**"Amelie tells me you have enrolled in advanced placement classes."**

Claire gratefully took that as an opportunity not to think about how disturbing this was, seeing him locked up like an animal in a cage, because of her. 

Eve shook her head and went to say something but Claire got there first.

"To nice for my own good, yes Eve I know" Claire said.

**She read off her class schedule, and answered his questions, which were sharply worded and a strange mix of expert knowledge and complete ignorance. He understood philosophy and biochem; he didn't know anything at all about Quantum Mechanics, until she explained the basics, and then he nodded.**

"Years ago they went by different names" Myrnin shrugged when Shane, Eve and Michael looked at him.****

"Myth and Legend?" he echoed, baffled, when she read off the class title. "Why would Amelie feel it necessary ... ah, no matter. I'm sure she has reason. 

"Doesn't she always?" Shane asked a little bitter.

"Shane" Claire warned. "Not really the time".

Shane shrugged.

**Your essay?" He held out his hand.**

"I forgot about that homework" Eve said.

"I didn't" Claire said.

**Claire dug the stapled computer printout from her bag and handed it over. Six pages, single spaced.**

"Single spaced?" Eve and Shane started at Claire.

"I could have done a lot better but I had only just started" Claire shrugged going pink.

"Right" Eve and Shane rolled there eyes.

**The best she could do on the history of a subject she was only just now starting to understand. "I'll read it later. And the books I gave you?"**

Claire went to her backpack and pulled them out, then came back to her chair. 

"You should have just kept it with you" Shane said. "It would have been easier".

"I didn't really think about it before hand" Claire said.

**"I read through Aureus and the Golden Chain of Homer."**

"Did you understand them?"

"I don't even understand the names let alone what it is" Eve said and Michael, Shane nodded.

"I get them a lot better now days" Claire shrugged.

"I should hope so" Myrnin said.****

"Not really."

"That's because Alchemy is a very secretive field of study. Rather like being a Mason are there still Masons?" When she nodded, Myrnin looked oddly relieved.

"Were you ever one?" mum asked Myrnin.

"Only for five years" Myrnin said. "It was too boring but Oliver liked it".

"It would have been better if you had not killed the leader" Oliver said.

"Anyway" Myrnin said. "That's another story in its own right".

"One that will never be told" Oliver said reading.

**"Well, that's good. The consequences would be quite terrible, you know, if there weren't.-As to alchemy, I can teach you how to translate the codes that were spoken and written, but I'm more concerned that you learn the mechanics than the philosophy. You do understand the methods outlined in the texts for constructing a calcining furnace, yes?"**

"I keep telling you Myrnin that it's easier to buy things" Claire sighed.

"We have talked of this many times before and this is not the time again" Myrnin said.

"Meaning were not going to talk about it because you say so" Claire said.

"Correct" Myrnin nodded.****

"I think so. But why can't we just order what we need? Or buy it?"

Myrnin flicked the silver ring on his right hand into the bars of his cell, setting up a metallic ringing. 

"I lost that ring" Myrnin said looking at his hand. "It's a shame to".

"Myrnin, I think I know what you're getting at" Claire said. "No I do not plan on spending a week looking for it".

"I have you know that I was not thinking about that at all" Myrnin said faking hurt.

"Sure Myrnin, sure" Eve rolled her eyes.

**"None of that. Modern children are fools, slaves to the work of others, dependent for everything. Not you. You will learn how to build your tools as well as use them."**

"You want me to be an engineer?"

"For some time when you were five you wanted to be an engineer" dad said.

"Thanks dad" Claire said blushing.****

"Is it not a useful thing for one who studies physics to understand such practical applications?"

"Your right Myrnin" Claire said.

"I am always right" Myrnin said, smugly.

Shane frowned at them both.****

She stared at him doubtfully. "You're not going to make me get an anvil and make my own screwdrivers or anything, are you?"

"I would love to see a photo of that" Eve said.

"I talked Myrnin out of it a long time ago" Claire said.

"I was sick at the time but perhaps it is time for you to learn it" Myrnin said.

"Read Oliver, read" Claire said.

Oliver rolled he's eyes but still read.****

Myrnin smiled slowly. "What a good idea! I'll consider it. Now. I have an experiment I'd like to try. Are you ready?"

Probably not. "Yes sir."

"It's so weird to hear you call Myrnin sir" Michael said and the others nodded.

"It didn't last long" Claire shrugged. "But thinking about it now it is odd".****

"Move that bookcase He pointed to a leaning monstrosity of shelves that looked ready to collapse. It was groaning with volumes, of course. "Push it out of the way."

"Is that the one with the door behind it?" Michael asked.

"Yep, but don't ask me why he was getting me to do it" Claire said.

"I cannot remember why I asked you in the first place" Myrnin frowned.****

Claire wasn't at all sure the thing would hold together to be pushed, but she did as he said. It was better built than it looked, and to her surprise, when she'd pushed it aside, she found a small arched doorway. It was secured with a big heart-shaped iron lock.

"Open it," he said, and picked up the book he'd dropped upon her entrance, leafing randomly through the pages.

"Where's the key?"

"No idea." He flipped faster, frowning at the words. "Look around."

"That's helpful" Shane said.

"No that's Myrnin" Claire joked.

"Yes thank you Claire" Myrnin said.****

Claire looked around the lab in complete frustration. "In here?" Where was she supposed to start? 

"I still get that feeling now days" Claire said.

"I keep telling you that it's not that bad" Myrnin said and Claire rolled her eyes.

"One day you will see" Claire said.

**It was all piles and stacks and half-open drawers, nothing in any order at all that she'd been able to determine so far. "Can you give me a hint, at least?"**

"If I remembered, I would." Myrnin's voice was dry, but just a little sad too.

**She shot him a glance out of the corner of her eye. He folded the book closed again and stared out of the cage not at her, not at anything, really. There was a careful blankness in his face. "Claire?"**

"I was slipping" Myrnin said sadly.****

"Yeah?" She pulled open the first drawer near the door. It was full of bottles of what looked like dust, none of them labelled. 

"They were labelled once" Myrnin said.

"At least you knew what was in them" Claire said.

**A spider scuttled frantically out of sight into the darker recesses, and she made a face and slammed it shut.**

"It was probably bob when he was younger" Myrnin said.

"Isn't that your pet spider?" Eve asked.

"Oh yes" Myrnin nodded. "I left him back in the lab sadly".

"Yes sadly" Claire rolled her eyes.****

"Can you tell me why I'm in this cage?" He sounded odd now, strangely calm with something underneath. Claire pulled in a deep breath and kept looking in the drawers. She didn't look directly at him.

"I was feeling really guilty" Claire said.

"You're too nice for your own good" Eve said.

**"I don't like cages. Bad things have happened to me in cages."**

Myrnin shrived but didn't comment.

"You poor dear" mum said making everyone blink.

"Thank you Miss Davison" Myrnin smiled and Shane glared at him.****

"Amelie says you have to stay in there for a while," she said. "Remember? It's to help us."

"I think it was more to keep you safe then to help" Shane said.

"No it did help" Claire said. "It meant I knew where he was the whole time".****

"I don't remember." His voice was warm and soft and regretful. "I'd like to get out of here. Could you open it, please?"

"Please tell me you didn't let him out" Shane said.

"I can honestly say that I didn't" Claire said.

"But someone did" Shane shock he's head.

"In a why" Claire said glancing at Myrnin.****

"No," she said. "I don't have the"

"Key" Eve said.

"Yeah, that" Claire said.****

-keys, except that she did. There was a ring of them sitting right there in front of her, half-hidden by a leaning tower of loose yellowing pages. Three keys. One was a great big iron skeleton key, and she was instantly almost sure that it fit the big heart-shaped lock on the door behind the bookcase. 

"I was right about that" Claire sighed.

**The other one was newer, still big and clunky, and it had to be the key to Myrnin's cage.**

"And I was right again" Claire said.

"Not that he needed a key" Michael frowned.

Shane groaned. "I'm really not going to like this".****

The third was a tiny, delicate silver key, like the kind that opened diaries and suitcases.

"I cannot remember what that would be for" Myrnin said, thoughtful.

"I don't think I ever saw it again" Claire said.****

Claire reached out for the key ring and pulled it toward her, trying to do it silently. 

"So young" Eve shook her head.

"I know it was stupid" Claire said. "But I didn't think Myrnin would be listing".

"How could I not?" Myrnin said.

"Like I said stupid" Claire said.

**He heard, of course. He got up from the corner of the cage and came to the front, where he held on to the bars. "Ah, excellent," he said. "Claire, please open the door. I can't show you what you need to do if I'm locked in this cage."**

"You didn't really think that Claire was going to let you out?" Eve asked.

"You forget that I had only just met Claire" Myrnin said.****

God, she couldn't look at him, she just couldn't. 

"You know Claire you and Myrnin became friends fast" Eve said.

"Myrnin and I are a lot alike" Claire shrugged and Shane frowned.

"I agree with Claire" Michael said. "They really are like each other".

"I think I will take it as a complement" Myrnin said.

**"I'm not supposed to do that," she said, and sorted out the big iron skeleton key. It felt cold and rough to her fingers, and old. Really old. "You wanted me to open this door, right?"**

"That's what he said"Eve said.

"Not anymore" Claire said.****

"Claire. Look at me." He sounded so sad. She heard the soft ringing chime of his ring on the bars when he gripped them again. "Claire, please."

She turned away from him and put the key into the heart-shaped lock.

"Claire you should do as your told" mum frowned at Claire.

Claire blushed. "Sorry".****

"Claire, don't open that!"

"But you told her to" Shane said.

"I didn't know that Claire could use it" Myrnin said.****

"You told me to!"

"Just what I'm saying" Shane said.****

"Don't!" Myrnin rattled the bars of his cage, and even though they were solid iron she heard them rattle. 

"Oh please" Myrnin said. "They need to be a lot stronger than that for me".

"I don't like the sound of that" Shane said.

"Shane I was ok" Claire said.

**"If you open that door, you'll die! Now get me out of here! Now!"**

She checked her watch. Not enough time, not nearly enough; it was still at least an hour to sunset, maybe more. Michael was still stuck in the car. "I can't," she said. "I'm sorry."

"And I really was sorry" Claire said.

"I apologizes for how I am about to act" Myrnin sighed.

Mum, dad and Shane looked at Myrnin.****

The sound Myrnin made then was enough to make her glad that she was across the room. 

"Temper, temper" Eve joked.

"You wouldn't think to look it but Myrnin has a temper to mach Oliver's" Claire said.

"I choose not to comment" Oliver said.

"It may be a first but I agree" Myrnin nodded.

**She'd never heard a lion roar, not in person, but somehow she imagined that it would sound like that, all wild animal rage. It shredded her confidence. **

"It would have done the same with mine" Eve said.

**She closed her eyes and tried not to listen, but he was talking, she couldn't understand what he was saying now but it was a constant, vicious stream in a language she didn't know. The tone, though you couldn't not get the evil undercurrents.**

"I'm so glade I don't understand whatever language you were talking in" Claire said.

"I am glad you don't either" Myrnin nodded.****

He'd kill her if he got hold of her now. Thank God, the cage was strong enough to ...

"Oh no" Shane groaned.

"You could say that" Claire said.****

He snarled something low and guttural, and she heard something metal snap with a high, vibrating sound.

Mum and dad were staring at Myrnin now.

"I did say that he is strong" Claire said to them. "And that was when he was sick".****

The cage wasn't strong enough.

"You don't say" Eve rolled her eyes.

"I don't think it's really time for jokes Eve" Michael said.****

Myrnin was bending the bars away from the lock.

Mum and dad gasped.

"How strong are you?"Mum asked.

"Very" Myrnin said.****

Claire spun, key still in her hand, and saw him rip at a weak point in the cage like it was wet paper. How could he do that? How could he be that strong? Wasn't he hurting himself?

"Oh, I was" Myrnin said. "If I was to do it now I would only make my hands sting a little".

Mum and dad blinked and started at him.

"Show off" Oliver mutated before reading.****

He was. She could see blood on his hands.

It came to her with a jolt that if he got out of that cage, he could do the same thing to her.

"You just had to make me think off that" Eve said looking a little green.

"How was I to know that my thoughts would be read one day?" Claire said.****

She needed to get out.

"Great idea" Shane said.

"Shane you do know that it was Michael that got me home and not myself?" Claire said.

"I forgot" Shane said.****

Claire moved around the lab table, squeezed past two towering stacks of volumes, and tripped over a broken three-legged stool. She hit the floor painfully, on top of a pile of assorted junk pieces of old leather, some bricks, a couple of withered old plants she guessed Myrnin was saving for botanical salvage. 

"No, I forgot to water them" Myrnin said.

**Man, that hurt. She rolled over on her side, gasping, and climbed to her feet.**

She heard a long, slow creak of metal, and stopped for a fatal second to look over her shoulder.

"Just brilliant" Shane sighed.****

The cage door was open, and Myrnin was out. He was still wearing his little Ben Franklin glasses, but what was in his eyes looked like something that had crawled straight out of hell.

Everyone who had seen a mad Myrnin winced.

"I think I can see that" Eve said and the others nodded.****

"Oh crap," she whispered, and looked desperately toward the stairs.

Too far. Way too far, too many obstacles between her and safety, and he could move like a snake. He'd get there first.

"That is very true but I do believe that I am faster than a snake" Myrnin said.

"I correct my past self" Claire said. "You move a lot faster than a snake".****

She was closer to the door with the lock on it than the stairs, and the key was still clutched tight in her hand. She'd have to abandon her book bag, no way to get to it now.

"I think that was my old bag" Claire said. "I still have that one in my room I couldn't throw it away".

"I wondered why you were keeping it with all of throes blood stains on it" Eve said.****

She didn't have time to think about it. The cut Jason had put on her wrist was still fresh, Myrnin could still smell it, and it was ringing the dinner bell loud and clear.

"I'm so killing Jason" Eve said.

"Don't bother Eve" Shane said. "That's my job".****

She kicked stacks of books out of the way, jumped over the pile of junk, and raced for the locked door with the key outstretched. Her hands were shaking, and it took two tries to get the oversized key into the hole, and when she started to turn it there was a terrible moment of utter panic because it wouldn't turn ...

Both mum and dad were pale.

"I was fine mum, dad" Claire told them but it didn't really help.****

And then it did, a smooth metallic slide of levers and pins, and the door swung open.

"Finely" Shane said.****

On the other side was her own living room, and Shane was sitting on the couch with his back to her, playing a video game.

"Ada must have done that" Claire frowned. "It must have been before she started to hate me".

"Yes she must have" Myrnin said with a sad look.****

Claire paused, utterly off balance. That couldn't be real, could it? She couldn't be seeing him, right there, but she could hear all of the computerized grunts and punches and wet bloody sounds from whatever fight game he had on. She could smell the house. Chili. He'd made chili. He still hadn't taken some of his boxes back upstairs. They were piled in the corner.

"Slacker" Eve said.

"And you're surprised?" Shane joked.

"Funny Collin's" Eve rolled her eyes.****

"Shane she whispered, and reached out, through the doorway. She could feel something there, like a slight pressure, and the hair on her arm shivered and prickled.

Shane put the game on pause, and slowly stood up. "Claire?" He was looking in the wrong place, he was looking up, at the staircase.

"I thought you had got home and were sleeping or something" Shane said.****

But he'd heard her. And that meant she could just step right through and she'd be safe.

"To bad you didn't get to do it" Shane said.

"It would have been a lot less trouble" Claire nodded.****

She never got the chance.

"Thanks Myrnin" Claire said.

"I was not myself" Myrnin said a little sadly.****

Myrnin's hand landed on her shoulder, dragged her back, and as Shane started to turn toward them, Myrnin slammed the door and turned the key in the lock.

"I thought I saw something there but when I looked back there was nothing there" Shane frowned.

"I'm not really surprised" Claire said.****

She didn't dare move. He was crazy,

"Very crazy" Shane nodded.

"If you don't mind I am trying to read" Oliver snapped.

**She could see it, there was nothing in him that recognized her at all. Amelie's warnings screamed through her head, and Sam's. She'd underestimated Myrnin, and that was what had gotten all the other would-be apprentices killed.**

"You are wrong about that last part" Myrnin said.

"How?" Claire asked.

"I was too strong for them" Myrnin said simply.****

Myrnin was shaking, and his broken hands were crunched into fists. His blood was dripping on an open copy of an old chemistry textbook that lay by his feet.

"Not that it really matted with Myrnin having seven of them" Claire said.****

"Who are you?" he whispered. The accent she'd noted the first time she'd met him was back, and strong. Really strong. 

"Most people's accent's become stronger when they are mad" mum said.

"That's Myrnin then" Eve said.

**"Child, what brings you here? Do you not understand your danger? Who is your Patron? Were you sent as a gift?"**

"A gift?" Shane said. "That really is sick".

"No Shane that is a vampire that thinks he is still back in the day of killing humans for food" Claire said.

"Doesn't make it right" Shane frowned at Claire.****

She closed her eyes for a second, then opened them and looked right into his eyes and said,

"Claire how many times do I have to tell you not to look in to their eyes?" Eve sighed.

"Eve I don't think he was going to do a Buffy vampire slayer with Dracula" Claire rolled her eyes.

"A what?" Michael asked.

"You have no idea what I'm talking about me do you?" Claire asked and they shook their heads. "I'll tell you later".

**"You're Myrnin, and I'm Claire, I'm your friend. I'm your friend, okay? You should let me help you. You hurt yourself."**

She pointed to his injured fingers. Myrnin looked down, and he seemed surprised, as if he hadn't felt it at all. Which maybe he hadn't.

"At first I did but when I lost it I didn't" Myrnin said.****

He took two steps backward, ran into a lab table, and knocked over a stand that held empty glass test tubes. They fell and shattered on the dirty stone floor.

"Dirty is one word for them" Claire said making a face.

"They are not that bad" Myrnn said.

"They are" Claire said.****

Myrnin staggered, then sank down to sit against the wall, his face covered by bloody hands, and began to rock back and forth. "It's wrong," he moaned. "There was something important, something I had to do. I can't remember what it was."

"Not one of my best moments" Myrnin said.

"Sadly" Claire said.****

Claire watched him, still scared to death, and then sank down to a crouch across from him. "Myrnin," she said. "The door. The one I opened. Where does it go?"

"Always asking questions" Eve said.

"It's what I do" Claire shrugged.****

"Door? Doorways. Moments in time, just moments, none of it stays, it flows like blood you know, just like blood. I tried to bottle it but it doesn't stay fresh. Time, I mean. Blood turns, and so does time. What's your name?"

"Why must I be the one to read this chapter?" Oliver glared at Claire.

"I don't know what are going to happen chapter to chapter" Claire said.****

"Claire, sir. My name's Claire."

"You sound like a little school kid" Eve said.

"Thanks Eve" Claire said.****

He let his head fall back against the wall, and there were bloody tears running down his cheeks. "Don't trust me, Claire. Don't ever trust me." He bounced the back of his head off the wall with enough force to make Claire wince.

"Claire why don't you listen for once?" Shane sighed.

"I couldn't just give up" Claire said.****

"I no sir. I won't."

"How long have I been your friend?"

"A lot shorter than most people" Michael said. ****

"Not that long."

"I don't have friends," he said hollowly.

"Yes you do Myrnin" Claire said. "I'm your friend".

"Not back then I did not" Myrnin shook his head.

**"You don't, you know, when you're as old as I am. You have competitors, and you have allies, but not friends, never. You're too young, far too young to understand that." He closed his eyes for a moment, and when he opened them, he looked mostly sane. Mostly. "Amelie wants you to learn from me, yes? So you are my student?"**

"And that's all" Shane said under he's breath but the vampires still heard.

"That will do Mr. Collins" Amelie said coldly.****

This time, Claire just nodded. Whatever the fit was, it was leaving him, and he was empty and tired and sad again. He took off his glasses, folded them, and put them in the pocket of his coat.

"I spent two hours looking for them" Myrnin said happily.

"That's nice" Eve said.****

"You won't be able do it," he said. "You can't possibly learn quickly enough. I nearly killed you tonight, and next time I won't be able to stop. The others He stopped, looked briefly sick, and cleared his throat. 

"I don't think I have ever seen a vampire sick before" Shane said and Eve nodded.

"It is no very often that we feel so" Myrnin said. "But for some things..."

"It's ok Myrnin" Claire said.

**"I'm not I wasn't always like this, Claire. Please understand. Unlike many of my kind, I never wanted to be a monster. I only wanted to learn, and this was a way to learn forever."**

"I get it" Claire nodded. "I know how you could have wanted to lean forever".

"I know you do my dear" Myrnin smiled at Claire.****

Claire bit her lip. "I want to learn, too," she said. "I-Amelie wants me to help you, and learn from you. Do you think I'm smart enough?"

"Oh, you're smart enough. Could you master the skills, given enough time? Perhaps. And you'll have no choice in the matter; she'll keep you coming until you learn, or I destroy you." Myrnin slowly lifted his head and looked at her. Rational again, and very steady. "Did I remind you not to trust me?"

"Yes and your point is?" Eve asked.

Claire winced. "You're really not going to like this".****

"Yes sir."

"It's good advice, but just this once, ignore it and allow me to help you."

"You sound like doctor who" dad said.

"Who?" Myrnin asked.

"He's an alien who is a lot like you" Claire answered. "Dad's a fan and he got me to watch it with him".****

"Help ?"

Myrnin stood up, in that eerie boneless way that he seemed to have, and rummaged around through the glass jars and beakers and test tubes until he found something that looked like red salt.

"Oh, so is that how you found the red crystals?" Shane asked.

"In a way yes" Claire winced, thinking about what happened.

**He shook the container it was about the size of a spice jar and opened it to extract one red crystal. He touched it to his tongue, shut his eyes for a second, and smiled.**

"Yes," he said. "I thought so." He recapped it and held it out to her. "Take it."

"Please tell me what I'm thinking not going to happen" Shane closed he's eyes and Eve gasped.

"That's why you were so tired" Eve said.

Claire didn't answer.****

She did. It felt surprisingly heavy. "What is it?"

"I have no idea what to call it," he said. "But it'll work."

"So helpful" Shane said.****

"What do I do with it?"

"It makes you fly what do you think?" Eve rolled her eyes.

"For all I knew it could have" Claire shrugged.****

"Shake a small amount into your palm, like so He reached out for her hand. She pulled away, curling her fingers closed, and Myrnin looked briefly wounded. 

"Sorry Myrnin but after what I had seen before I think you understand" Claire said.

"I understand very well" Myrnin shrugged.

**"No, you're right. You do it. I apologize." He handed her the shaker and made an encouraging gesture. She hesitantly turned the shaker upside down over her palm. A few red chunky crystals poured out. He wanted her to keep going, so she did, quick jerks of the container until there was maybe half a teaspoon of the stuff piled up.**

"Please, please don't do it" Shane muttered and mum and dad were staring at Claire.

"Claire what have we always told you about drugs?" dad asked.

"Sorry but there not like what you're thinking" Claire winced.****

Myrnin took the shaker back and set it back where he'd found it, and nodded at her. "Go on," he said. "Take it."

"Excuse me?"

"Really Claire" Eve said.

Claire blushed.****

He mimed popping it into his mouth.

"I um what is it, again?"

"So many questions" Shane said. "Even then".****

This time, Myrnin rolled his eyes in frustration. "Take it, Claire! We don't have much time. My periods of lucidity are shorter now. I can't guarantee I won't slip again. Soon. This will help."

"I don't understand, how is this stuff supposed to help?"

"I was thinking the same thing" Michael said.

"Oh it did help" Claire said. "But it had a big price".****

He didn't tell her again, he just pleaded silently with her, his whole expression open and hopeful, and she finally put her hand to her mouth and tentatively tasted one of the crystals.

"Why Claire, why?" Shane grounded.

"I don't think auguring was going to help much do you?" Claire said.

"Yeah but still" Shane said.****

It tasted like strawberry salt, with a bitter after-flavor.

"At least it has a nice taste" Eve said.

"Not after taking it a few times" Claire said.

**She felt an instant, tiny burst of ice-cold clarity, like a strobe light going off in a darkened room full of beautiful, glittering things.**

"See dad?" Claire said. "It's not what you're thinking".

"We will be talking about this Claire Elizabeth Davison" mum said and dad nodded.****

"Yes," Myrnin breathed. "Now you see."

This time, she licked up more of the crystals. Four or five of them. The bitterness was stronger, barely offset by the strawberries, and the reaction was even faster. It was like she'd been asleep, and all of a sudden she was awake.

"The things you will do to learn" Shane shook his head.

"I didn't have much choice" Claire said.

**Gloriously, dizzyingly awake. The world was so sharp she felt like even the dull battered wood of the table could cut her.**

"Freaky weird" Eve said.

"It really was" Claire nodded.****

Myrnin picked up a book at random and opened it. He held it up in front of her, and it was like another burst of light in the darkness, brilliant and beautiful, oh, so pretty, 

"What is it with you and the word pretty?" Eve asked. "First Myrnin and now a book"

Claire blushed and shrugged.

**The way the words curved themselves around each other and cut into her brain. It was painful and perfect, and she read as fast as she could. The essence of gold is the essence of Sun, and the essence of silver is the essence of Moon. You must work with each of these according to its properties, gold in the daylight, silver in the night ... It all made sense to her. Total sense. **

"Good for you" Eve said looking confused. "I don't get it at all".

"Same" Shane said and Michael nodded.

"I think I will stick with my guitar" Michael joked.

**Alchemy was nothing but a poet's explanation of the way matter and energy interacted, the way different surfaces vibrated at different speeds, it was physics, nothing but physics, **

"I could not have said it better myself" Myrnin smiled.

"But it only works if you can use it" Shane said.

"I think you're about to find out how" Claire said.

**And she could understand how to use it now.**

And then ... then it was like the bulbs all dimmed again.

"What? What happened?" Eve asked.

"You will see soon" Claire said.****

"Go on, take it," Myrnin said. "The dose in your hand will last for an hour or so. In that time, I can teach you a great deal. Enough, perhaps, for us to understand where we should be going."

"Did it help?" Michael asked.

"Yes" Claire winced. "But I really wish I hadn't taken it".

"I should have warned you beforehand" Myrnin said.****

This time, Claire didn't hesitate licking up every last bit of the red crystals.

"You really are crazy Claire" Shane said.

"It has been said" Claire sighed.****

Myrnin was right, the crystals lasted for a little more than an hour. He took some as well, one at a time, carefully measuring them out and making them last until finally even a red crystal couldn't drive the growing confusion out of his eyes.

"I still cannot believe that you're taking that stuff" Eve said.

"I don't think Myrnin would have let me get out of taking it anyway" Claire said.

**He was getting anxious and confused, by the end. Claire started closing the books and stacking them up on the table the two of them were sitting cross-legged on the floor, practically buried in volumes.**

"How many books did you read?" Shane asked.

"I lost count after twenty five" Claire said.

**Myrnin had jumped her from one book to another, pulling out a paragraph here, a chapter there, a chart from physics and a page from something so old he had to teach her the language before she could understand.**

"Wow, I want some of that stuff" Eve said.

"You really don't" Claire shook her head. "It's really bad for humans and for some humans if can kill you".

"Then how did he know that it would work on you after only two meetings?" Shane asked.

No one answered and mum and dad glanced at each other in worry.****

I learned languages. I learned ... I learned so much.

"It was really amazing" Claire said.

"That is how it feels to be a vampire" Myrnin said.

"I did wonder" Claire said.

"Wonder what?" Shane asked sharply.

"What is felt like to be a vampire" Claire said. "Don't worry I don't have any plans of becoming a vamper any time soon".

Shane nodded but he still didn't look very happy.

**He'd shown her a diagram, and it hadn't been just a diagram, it had been three dimensional and as intricate as a snowflake. Morganville hadn't just happened, it had been planned.**

"How did you work that out?" Oliver rolled his eyes over the top of the book.

"I had never thought about it" Claire shrugged.

**Planned around the vampires. Planned by the vampires, carried out by Myrnin and Amelie. The Founder Houses, they were part of it thirteen bright hard nodes of power in the web, holding together a complex pattern of energy. **

"An interesting why of think of it but somehow very true" Myrnin said.

**It could move people from one place to another, via the doorways, although Claire didn't yet understand how to control them.**

"But somehow I can" Claire said.

"I would like to know how you can do it so easily but we can't" Shane said.

"I can't even do it and I'm a vampire" Michael said.

**But the web could do more. It could change memories. It could even keep people away, if Amelie wanted it to do that.**

Myrnin had shown her the journals, too, with all his research conducted over the last seventy years into the vampire's sickness. It was chilling, the way his notes degenerated from meticulous to scrawls at the end, and sometimes into nonsense.

"You make it sound like a murder novel" mum said.

"I never thought of it like that before" Claire said.****

But isn't this a good thing? The question kept battering at her. Isn't it a good thing that the vampires will die out?

"I have to say Claire that it is very amusing your thoughts" Myrnin said.

"Um, thanks Myrnin" Claire said.****

And what about Sam? What about Michael?

"Yeah, what about Michael?" Eve frowned.****

The influence of the crystals was dimming now, and Claire felt horribly tired. There was a steady ache in her muscles, a feverish throb that told her this stuff wasn't exactly kind to the human body. 

"I didn't' know that at the time" Myrnin said. "I took a stab in the dark".

"Thanks for that" Claire said.

**She could feel every heartbeat pounding through her head, and everything looked so dark. So ... so confusing.**

"You sound like you have the vampire sickness" mum said.

"I'm glade I didn't" Claire said.****

She felt a breath of air stir against her cheek, and turned toward the stairs. Michael was descending, moving faster than she'd ever seen him, and he came to a fast halt when he saw her sitting beside Myrnin.

"He's supposed to be"

"Locked up in a cage? Yeah, I know." Claire knew she sounded bitter.

"I don't think I have ever heard you sound bitter before" Eve said.

**She didn't care. "He's sick, Michael. He's not an animal. And anyway, even if you lock him up, he'll get out."**

Michael looked young to her, all of a sudden, although he was older than she was. And a vampire, on top of that. 

"And I felt every part of it to" Michael said.

"Sorry Michael" Claire said but Michael shrugged.

"You didn't know" Michael said.

**"Claire, get up and come to me. Please."**

"Yes please do" Shane nodded holding Claire's hand.

Claire rolled her eyes. "I'm fine Shane and I didn't even get hurt from that Myrnin".

"It was so close and that's not the point" Shane sighed.****

"Why? He's not going to hurt me."

"You can never know" Michael said.

"I realises that now" Claire said. ****

"He can't help what he does. Look, Sam told me how many people he's killed"

"He's a vamp, Michael. Of course he's"

"I'm not going to like this am I?" Shane asked.

Claire and Michael winced.

"Thought not" Shane said.****

how many he's killed in the last two years. It's more than all the vampires in Morganville combined. You're not safe. Now get up and walk over here."

Shane took a deep breath and forced he's self to relax.

"Are you alright Shane?" Claire asked and Shane nodded.****

"He's right," Myrnin said. He was losing it, Claire could see that, but he was desperately hanging on to be the man who'd been with her for the last hour. The gentle, funny, sweet one, ablaze with excitement and passion for showing her his world. 

Myrnin smiled sadly. "I keep telling you Claire that you think me a fare better person then what I truly am".

"But it's true on some points" Claire said.

Myrnin smiled sadly but didn't speak.

**"It's time for you to go." He smiled, showing teeth not vampire teeth. It was a very human kind of expression. **

"You don't really see that on a vampire" Eve said.

"And not on a vampire as old as he is" Shane said.

**"I do all right on my own, Claire, or at least there's rarely anyone for me to harm. Amelie will send someone to look after me. And I usually can't leave here, once I forget things. It's too difficult for me to find the keys, and I can't remember how to use them once I have them.**

"That is so sad" mum said.

"I have Claire to thank for being better today" Myrnin said making Claire blush.

**But I never forget how to kill. Your friend is right. You should go, please. Now. Continue your studies."**

"This is going to surprise everyone but thanks for making her leave" Shane said.

"Shane are you feeling alright?" Eve asked.

"Shut up and leave it" Shane said.****

It was stupid, but she hated leaving him like this, with all the light going out in his eyes and the clouds of fear and confusion rolling in.

"It was really sad to watch" Claire said.****

She didn't mean to do it, it just happened.

"You didn't kiss him did you?" Eve asked making Claire and Myrnin who had been taking a drink, spray half the room with coke from Claire and coffee from Myrnin.

"I think that's no Eve" Michael said wiping his face.

"What the hell Eve?" Claire coughed and Shane who had been next to her so didn't get coved pated her on the back.

"Just asking" Eve said doing the same as Michael.

"We did no such thing" Myrnin said. "And I do apologize for the coffee".

"You had better be" Oliver said wiping the cover of the book dry.

"Let us go on with the book" Amelie said who had somehow managed to avoid getting wet.****

She hugged him.

Shane frowned. "Claire you never told me this".

"I didn't want you to do what I just did" Claire said.

"But he was going crazy" Shane said. "Still is".

"Shane I was fine" Claire sighed. "Please can we talk about this later?"

Shane nodded.****

It was like hugging a tree;

"Hugged many of them have you Claire?" Eve asked trying not laugh but losing.

"Shut up" Claire said.

"That's very nice Claire" dad said.

"Sorry" Claire said.

**He was so surprised; he was as stiff as a block of wood. She wasn't actually sure how long it had been, since anybody had touched him like this.**

"Not scenes Ada" Myrnin said.

"I'm happy to be there for you Myrnin" Claire said.

"Thank you Claire" Myrnin smiled at her and Shane frowned.

**For a second he resisted her, and then his arms went around her and she felt him heave a great sigh. Still not a hug, not really, but it was as close as he was likely to get.**

"Claire you can be so sweet" Eve said.

"Thanks Eve" Claire said blushing.****

"Go away, little bird," he whispered. "Hurry."

"Good idea" Shane said.****

She backed away. His eyes were strange again, and she knew they were out of time. Someday, he won't come back. He'll just be the beast.

Claire shrived and Myrnin winced.

"Sadly that was very nearly true" Myrnin said.****

Michael was beside her. She hadn't heard him cross the room, but his hand closed around hers, and there was real compassion in his face. Not for Myrnin, though.

"Michael" Eve said. "What is it with you in this book?"

"Sorry" Michael said. "But I was a little more worried for the human then for the big, old vampire".

Eve frowned but shrugged.

**For her.**

"You heard him," Michael said. "Hurry."

"Faster the better" Shane said.

"I was fine Shane" Claire said. "Michael was there".

"Claire I'm no match for Myrnin" Michael said. "He would win in a fight no matter what".

"That is true" Myrnin nodded.****

She bumped into the table, and the small jar of red crystals shuddered a little, nearly tipping over. 

"I am very glad that they didn't" Myrnin said.

"Same" Claire nodded.

**She grabbed it to put it back upright, and then thought, what if he loses this? He loses stuff all the time.**

"And still douse" Claire sighed.

"He can't be as bad as you father and his car keys" mum shock her head.

"Oh he it trust me" Claire said.****

She was only keeping it safe, that was all. It helped him, right? So she ought to make sure he didn't knock it over or throw it away or something.

"You're going to take it" dad sighed.

Claire didn't look at her parents when she answered. "I didn't want it lost or damaged".****

She slipped it into her pocket.

"Claire" Eve and Shane shock their heads in mock shame.

"Very funny you two" Claire said.

**She didn't think Myrnin saw, and she knew Michael didn't. Claire felt a hot burst of something shame? Embarrassment? Excitement? I should put it back. But really, she'd never find it again if he moved it around.**

"True" Claire said and Myrnin nodded.

"I understand and it was for the best" Myrnin said.

**Myrnin wouldn't remember. He wouldn't even know it was gone.**

"You are correct about that" Myrnin nodded.****

She kept looking back, all the way up the stairs. By the time they were halfway out, Myrnin had already forgotten them, and he was restlessly flipping through a pile of books, muttering anxiously to himself.

Gone already.

"That was fast" dad said.

"I was partly gone when Claire hugged me" Myrnin sighed.

"You must have a lot of will power" mum said.

"So Claire has told me" Myrnin said.****

He looked up at them and snarled, and she saw the hard glint of fangs.

Claire hand went to her neck before she could stop it.****

She hurried to the door at the top of the stairs.

"Finished" Oliver said closing the book.

"Whose turn is it?" Shane asked.

"Mine, Mr Collins" Amelie said taking the book from Oliver.

"**Chapter 9**" Amelie read.

_**I feel really guilty about not updating and I just found out that next week we have even more test so sorry if I don't update sooner. I don't know if I really did Myrnin and Claire's hug how most people would have wanted it to be written but I thought with the drink part just before it that it would have been too much and I'm sorry if it wasn't how you liked it. Anyway next chapter I hope to have up soon, please review)**_


	9. Chapter 9

"Finished" Oliver said closing the book.

"Whose turn is it?" Shane asked.

"Mine, Mr Collins" Amelie said taking the book from Oliver.

"**Chapter 9**" Amelie read.

**Michael wasn't talking to her, and that was bad.**

"Really bad" Eve said.

**He wasn't sullen, like Shane got from time to time; he was just thoughtful. That made the drive uneasily quiet. It was fully dark out, not that she could see through the window tinting anyway.**

"It would have been a happier drive if you had put music on Michael" Claire said.

"Sorry but I was not really in the best mood to be with" Michael said.

"Trust me I know" Claire said.****

The world didn't seem real to her anymore, and her head ached.

"I still can't believe that you did that" Shane said.

"I did say that I wasn't really thinking strait" Claire said.

"I'm still having a hard time understanding it all" Shane said. ****

"This is the deal you made with Amelie," Michael said. "To work for him."

"I do have a name Michael" Myrnin said.

"Sorry Myrnin" Michael said as if he wasn't really.****

"No. I made the deal with Amelie, then she told me to work for him. Or learn from him."

"Is there a difference?"

"I was just wondering the same thing" Eve said.

"I think I'm about to explain it to you" Claire said.****

Claire smiled. "Yeah. I don't get paid."

"See" Claire said.

"Really good explaining of what was going on Claire" Eve rolled her eyes.

"You try doing something like that with a sore head" Claire said.****

"Brilliant plan, genius. Is anybody paying you?"

"Not at that point in time" Claire said.

"Claire if you need any money you can just call us" mum said.

"Mum I get payed now and it's pretty good money" Claire said. "I really don't need anything any why".

"But if you do just call us dear" mum said as Claire sighed and nodded.****

Actually, she had no idea. The thought hadn't occurred to her, to ask Amelie for money. 

Out of no were Shane and Eve cracked up laughing.

"I'm sorry I was thinking of Claire going up and asking for money like Oliver twist with food" Eve laughed.

"Same" Shane nodded still laughing before putting on a voces. "Please miss can I have some more money?"

"Very funny you two" Claire said rolling her eyes. "And scenes when have you read Oliver twist?"

"At school we had to write a book report" Eve said still smiling. "I guess something's must have stuck".

**Was that normal, to get paid for a thing like this? She supposed it was, if she was supposed to risk her life with Myrnin on a regular basis. **

"Sort of like danger money" dad said.

"I guess you could call it that" Claire said.

**"I'll ask," she offered.**

"Not a good idea" Eve said.

"I thought you were smart Claire" Shane joked.

"I had only been in the town for a mouth maybe more" Claire shrugged.****

"No," Michael said grimly. "I'll ask. I want to talk to Amelie about this whole thing anyway."

"Don't lose your temper now Michael" Shane said.

"This was about a year or so ago" Michael said.

"Sorry I forgot" Shane said.

"Typical" Oliver and Myrnin said under their breaths.****

"Don't get all older-brother on me, Michael. It's not safe. You may be one of them now, but you're not - "

" - one of them? Yeah, I know that. But you're way too young for this, Claire, and you don't know what you're doing". 

"As if that's going to stop her from doing anything" Eve said.

"I'm sure Eve that, that would have been really helpful" Michael shook his head.

"It's not like you two can hear me back then" Eve shrugged.

"**You didn't grow up in this town, you don't understand the risks."**

"You would be surprised at what I understood back then" Claire said.****

"What, death? I understand that one pretty well already." She was feeling tired and achy, but also strangely annoyed with Michael's protectiveness.

"Sorry Claire but you needed to know that stuff for you to be able to live in this town" Michael said.

"I was just tired Michael I didn't really mean it" Claire said.

**"Look, I'm fine, okay? Besides, I learned a lot today. She'll be happy, trust me."**

"I don't think that Michael is really worried about Amelie's mood Claire" Shane said.

"Creepy" Claire said and Michael nodded.

"What? What did I say?" Shane asked confused.****

"Amelie's mood isn't what bothers me," Michael said. 

"Oh" Shane said.

**"It's you. You're changing, Claire."**

"But for the better" Michael said.

"It's called growing up Michael" Claire shrugged.****

She looked straight at him. "Like you haven't?"

"Harsh Claire" Eve said.

"Even throe it is true" Shane said. "Sorry man"

"It's fine" Michael waved it off.****

"Cheap shot."

"You made the choice."

"Like I said I don't mean it" Claire said before Michael stoped her.

"And after what you just had happen I don't blame you at all" Michael said.****

"Yeah, I made the choice, and it was the only one I could make. Look, I'm sick of having to tiptoe around Shane. Don't make me do it with you, too." Ah, now Michael was annoyed too. Great.

"Really great" Eve said.****

"Tell you what? I'll stop nagging you about your life if you'll stay out of mine. You're not my brother, you're not my dad - "

Both Claire's parents frowned at her.

"Sorry mum, dad" Claire winced seeing there faces.****

"No," he interrupted. "I'm the guy who says if you get to stay in the house."

"Michael!" both Eve and Shane said.

"I didn't mean it" Michael winced. "I was upset that Claire never told us about making the deal in the first place".

"And thinking about it now Michael had every right to be angry about it" Claire said.

"I don't care" Shane said.

"Shane we can talk about this later" Claire said.

"Yes please do" Myrnin said. ****

He wouldn't. He wouldn't. 

"He better not try" Shane muttered.

**"Michael - "**

"You made a deal with Amelie without talking to anyone, and then you covered it up. Look, the only reason you even came clean was because I saw the bracelet. If I hadn't you'd still be lying to us. 

"That is true" Eve nodded.

"You would have worked it out" Claire said.

"Yeah but after you got hurt or after Amelie said something in front of us?" Shane said.

Claire didn't answer but looked down guilty.

**That doesn't exactly make you the ideal housemate." Michael paused for a second. "And then there's Shane."**

"I don't know what you're talking about" Shane joked. "I perfectly lovable".

"When you're not in the same room you are" Eve said.

"You're nice" Shane said as Eve rolled her eyes.****

"How am I to blame for Shane?"

"Good question" Claire's dad nodded.****

"You're not. But I can't deal with both of you, not now. So just straighten up, Claire. No more lying, and no more risk-taking, all right? 

"That'll be the day" Eve said.

"Eve, not really helping" Claire said glancing at her parented.

"Sorry" Eve said looking slightly guilty.

**I'll convince Amelie to let you out of these sessions with Myrnin. You're too young to be doing this, she ought to know that."**

No more lying. No more risk-taking. Claire shifted and felt the bottle in her pocket, and had a flash of that perfect clarity again. 

Both Claire's parents were shaking their heads as Claire looked at the floor.

**She wondered what Michael would have to say about her letting Myrnin give her, the crystals.**

"Nothing good" Michael said.

"Im still finding it hard to believe that you trusted a vampire that you had only just met" Eve said.

"I was stupid" Claire said still looking at the floor and even Myrnin looked slightly guilty.

**Probably nothing. He was talking about throwing her out of the house, right? So he probably didn't care at all.**

"Of course I would have cared" Michael frowned. "I was just in a bad mood".

"I know and I'm sorry" Claire said looking at Michael.****

The car slowed and turned, bumped down a rutted drive. Home.

Claire bolted before Michael could say anything else to her.

"Claire your always running out of the car even if it's day time" Eve said.

"So I like to get out of cars fast what about it?" Claire asked.

"I just think it's funny" Eve said.****

Shane was in the kitchen, pouring himself a beer. He toasted her silently, took a sip and nodded toward a pot on the stove. "Chili," he said. "Extra garlic."

Myrnin and Oliver rolled their eyes.

"Smooth Shane" Eve rolled her eyes.****

Michael was closing the kitchen door, and he sighed. "When is this going to stop?"

"When you quit sucking blood?"

"So never then" Myrnin rolled his eyes. "You really care for your friends don't you Collins".

"At least I don't kill mine" Shane snapped.

"Stop it" Claire frowned at them both. "You are both acting like five year olds".

"He started it" Shane muttered.

"Is it just me or can you see Claire say well I'm going to finish it?" Eve asked Michael who both started laughing.

"Funny you two" Claire rolled her eyes.****

"Shane - "

"Don't get pissy. I made yours garlic-free." Shane looked at her again, and frowned a little. "You okay?"

"Sure. Why wouldn't I be?"

"You looked pale" Shane said. "But I just thought that you were tired or something".

"Oh, I was after everything" Claire said.

"I'm not surprised" Shane said.****

"Just - I don't know. Whatever." He slung an arm over her shoulders and kissed her on the forehead. "Bad day, probably."

"You could say that for everyone" Eve said.

"Yeah, I know" Shane nodded.****

Let's see, she'd been threatened by Eve's brother, had her wrist cut, and then played keep-away with Myrnin for hours. 

"Brilliant game Myrnin" Claire said.

"Yes I thought you would enjoy it" Myrnin smiled before becoming serious again. "I really am sorry Claire".

"You were sick Myrnin and it's not like I got hurt" Claire sighed.

"You were very lucky" Myrnin said sadly.

**Did that qualify as a bad day in Morganville? Probably not. No body count.**

Not yet, anyway.

"Don't be so happy Claire" Eve joked.

"She has a point Eve" Michael said.****

Michael pushed past them and through the door into the living room. Claire pulled free of Shane's arm and went to the stove to ladle herself a bowl of chili. It smelled hot and delicious. But mostly hot. She tasted a drop and nearly choked; was it usually this molten-lava wicked spicy? Everything felt raw to her right now. She supposed that was a side effect of the crystals.

"I should have warned you before but I knew you wouldn't take it if I had told you" Myrnin said.

"Your right about that" Claire nodded before say so only the vampire's in the room could hear. "And you should have also told me that it could kill me".

"Wait, what?" Michael asked.

"Later Michael" Claire sighed having forgotten about Michael.****

"I thought I heard you," Shane said. "Weirdest thing, I heard your voice today. Right out of the air. I thought you - I kept thinking about Michael, how he used to be during the daytime ..."

"I don't think you have to worry about that ever happening" Claire said.

"In this town anything could happen" Shane frowned.****

When he was a ghost. "You thought I was - ?"

"I thought maybe something happened," he said. "I called your cell number, the new one."

"That phone didn't last long" Claire said sadly.

Both claries parents frowned and looked worried. ****

She'd left it in her backpack. Claire reached down and unzipped the pocket, then checked the phone. 

"How many do you think he left?" Eve asked Michael. "Im saying five".

"I'm going with four" Michael said after a moment.

"Your both wrong" Shane smirked.

**Three calls, all from Shane.**

"I was closer" Michael said.

"But you were still both wrong" Shane said still smirking.

**With voicemails. "Sorry," she said. "I didn't hear it. Guess I need to turn the ringer up."**

"Please don't" Myrnin said. "It hurts my ears".

"I didn't end up turning it up now that I think about it" Claire said.

"I am very pleased that you did not" Myrnin said.****

He looked at her very steadily, and she felt the cold spot in the center of her, the place that had chilled while she'd been with Myrnin, slowly warm. "You worry me," he said, and put his hand on her cheek. "You know that, right?"

"Everyone knows that" Oliver said.

"I never thought I would say this but I agree with Oliver" Eve nodded. "And I think were about to hear way to much then we ever needed to know".

Claire blushed and tried to ignore everyone.****

She nodded, and hugged him. Unlike Myrnin, he was warm and solid and his body just moulded right into hers, perfect and sweet. 

"It better" Shane said smuggle as Claire blushed and her parents frowned.

"Really, Claire your thinking about Myrnin as you hug your boyfriend?" Eve said.

"I can't even remember this part" Claire lied trying not to blush but failing.

**When he kissed her she tasted beer and chili, but only for a second. After that, it was pure Shane, and she forgot all about Myrnin, and any kind of physics except friction. **

Eve went it to a giggling fit and Michael started coughing trying to stop laughing at Claire's horrified face.

"Kill me now someone" Claire said with her head in her hands. "I don't care how just make it fast".

"Were would the fun be in that?" Oliver smirked and Amelie who was being made to read this gave Claire a chilling look.

Both Claire's parents were looking embarrassed and Myrnin was looking as if he was trying to frown at the same time as not crack up laughing.

**Shane backed up her against the stove. She felt the low heat of the burner at her back, but she was too preoccupied to worry much about bursting into flames from outside sources. Shane just had that effect on her.**

"I'm sure he douses Claire, I'm sure he douse" Eve said still giggling.

"Shut up Eve" Claire groaned in to her hands.

"It's this or kissing noises when you look at Shane" Eve said.

Claire just ground again.****

"I missed you," he whispered, brushing her damp lips with his. 

"I really hope you don't go missing for a week" Michael said.

"It's too scary to even think about" Eve said cracking up all over again.

"Ha, ha I can hardly stop laughing" Claire said looking up from her hands to glare at them before going back to her hands.

"You Know really don't like this book" Shane said looking slightly pink.

"Heard that one before" Michael said before laughing at Shanes pink face.

**"Want to go upstairs?"**

Both Claire's parents sheared a horrified/angry look before looking at Claire who hand her head in her hands and Shane who was whistling and looking at the floor.

"Claire!" Claire's mum said making Claire jump still with her head in her hands.

"You had better not have with my sixteen year old" Claries dad said glaring at Shane.

"I swear nothing like that happened" Shane said as Oliver and Myrnin watched amused.

"I don't care!" Claire dad snapped. "After this is all over we are having a big, long talk".

"Yes sir" Shane nodded completely serious.****

"What about my chili?"

"And you still want you food after that?" Eve shook her head. "You really are weird".

"Thanks Eve" Claire said still with her head in her hands.****

"Get it to go."

There were good things about the way she felt tonight, she decided; her nerves might be raw, but that only made his touch all the sweeter. 

"Maybe you should get drugged up more often than" Eve said.

"Yeah, Eve that's really helping" Claire said still not looking up.

**She would have felt awkward, usually, and uncertain, and scared, but it seemed like the afternoon that had started with Jason and ended with Myrnin's snarl had burned all that out of her.**

"That's why you go to bed earl not... do what you two are doing" Claire mum frowned.

"Yes Mum" Claire sighed in to her hands.****

"Not hungry," she said breathlessly. "Come on."

"You know Claire this is a very different side to you that I have never seen before" Myrnin said.

"And you never will" Shane glared at Myrnin.

"And your point is Myrnin?" Claire asked ignoring Shane.

"Just trying to break the tension between you and your parents" Myrnin shrugged.

"Um... thanks" Claire said before putting her head in to her head back in her hands.****

She felt as wild and free as a little kid, running up the steps with Shane in hot pursuit, and when he grabbed her around the waist and spun her around into his room and kicked the door shut, she squealed in delight. 

"And we all really want to know don't we?" Eve said.

"I have a feeling that by the time these books are over I am going to have nightmares" Michael said.

"I think we all will" Myrnin said.

**And wiggled to fit herself against his warm, hard body as she kissed him again, breathless and flying.**

"I think the flying part is from the crystals" Eve said.

"Again Eve not really helping" Claire said in to her hands.****

He kissed like their lives depended on it. Like it was an Olympic event and he intended to earn a medal. 

"I would so enter that event" Eve said. "With Michael of course".

"Nice to know Eve" Michael said looking embarrassed.

"I had to put it out there" Eve shrugged.

**Somewhere in the back of her head she was chattering to herself, warning that this was going to go too far, that she was just making things worse for both of them, but she couldn't help it.**

Eve went to open her mouth but Claire stoped her.

"Don't say it Eve" Claire warned still not looking up.

"How do you know that I was going to say anything?" Eve asked.

"I know you" Claire said.

**Before long they were stretched out together on Shane's bed, and his big, warm hands were teasing under the hem of her shirt, stroking the fluttering skin of her stomach and stealing her breath. **

That's when Eve started giggling again and Michael coughed embarrassed.

"How detailed are these books?" Shane asked no one and looking pink.

"I really hope that this is all the details that are shown" Claire groaned in to her hands trying not to think of her parents faces.

**She lost it all when he spread his fingers out, pressing his palm flat against her, and she felt an almost irresistible impulse to feel those hands all over. Everywhere. Her heart was hammering hard enough to make her dizzy, and it was all just so ...**

"Disgusting" Oliver said looking slightly green.

"Sadly I don't think that will be the word that Claire is thinking" Myrnin said also looking embarrassed.

"Be thankful that I am not making you Oliver or Myrnin read this" Amelie gave them both looks before going back to reading.****

Perfect.

Eve leant over and said quietly to Claire. "Vampires kisses are way better".

Claire jumped and looked at Eve. "I really don't need to know about you and Michael's love life Eve".

"Just saying" Eve smiled and winked at Michael who was blushing as much as a vampire could.

"Why what did Eve say?" Shane asked confused having not heard.

"Trust me you don't want to know" Claire said.****

She reached down and pulled up her shirt. Slowly, feeling the cool air slip over tender skin.

Both Claries parents glared at Shane who if looks could kill would have been killed very painfully and Myrnin frowning slightly.****

Up, to the bottom line of her bra. Then up.

"I really, really, really hate this book" Claire groaned bright red.

"It's no fun park for us either" Michael said.****

Shane stopped.

"Good" Claries parents said.

"It's not over yet" Myrnin reminded them unhelpfully.

"Thanks Myrnin" Claire sighed in to her hands. "That what my _parents _what to hear right now".****

"I want to," she whispered against his mouth. "Please, Shane. I want to." She sat up and reached for the clasp on her bra, and unhooked it. "Please."

"I'm not even going to say what I'm thinking" Eve said.

"Please don't" Claire nodded without looking up.****

He pulled back from her and sat up, head down. When he looked up he licked his lips, and his eyes were wide and dark and she could fall into them, fall forever.

"It would get pretty boring just falling in the dark forever" Eve commented.****

"I know," he said. "Me too. But I made promises, and I'm going to keep them. Especially the one to your parents, because your dad said he'd hunt me down like a dog." 

Both Claire parents nodded.

"Don't ever try that again boy" Claire's dad warned.

"Yes sir" Shane nodded.

**Shane gave her a wild, bitter smile. "Sucks to be me."**

"Your just worked that out?" Eve joked.

"Very funny Eve" Shane shook his head.****

"But - " She felt her bra slipping, and quickly grabbed to hold it in place. She felt ridiculous now, and wounded.

"Everyone has at one point in their love life felt that way once" Eve said.

"Thanks Eve that oddly makes me feel better" Claire said looking up still bright red.****

He sighed. "Don't, Claire. It's not like I'm a saint or anything, I'm not, and trust me, for you, a saint would buy a condom and go to confession".

Claire's parents started to glare at Shane even Myrnin didn't look to happy.

"Claire!" Claries mum said.

"Will talk about it later" Claire said.

" **But it's not about that. It's about keeping my word, and around here, my word is all I've got."**

She wanted him with a red fury that was all out of character for her, but somehow, the way he said it, the way he looked her straight in the eyes, she felt all that fall away and the fury turn into something pure, hot and silver.

Claire started blushing again but stoped herself from putting her head in her hands.****

"Besides," Shane said, "I'm all out of condoms, and I hate confession."

"When have you ever been to church in your life?" Eve asked.

"When I was younger my mum made us go" Shane shrugged. "Dad didn't like it so he stayed at home most of the time".****

He put his arms around her and hooked her bra with an ease that showed he had plenty of practice.

"Like I said I'm no saint" Shane smiled.****

She threw a pillow at him.

"Watch it Claire a pillow can be deadly in the wrong hands" Eve joked.

"I'll try to remember that" Claire said.****

Somebody was rummaging around outside the house.

"It must have skipped to later in the night or something" Michael said.****

Claire woke up with a start, instantly tense, as she heard the distant rattle of metal. She rolled out of bed and peeked out of the blinds. Her bedroom window looked out on the back, a glorious corner vantage point, and she had a clear view of the fence, and the trash cans on the other side.

"Best view in town" Claire joked.

But Claire's parents were frowning.****

Somebody was definitely out there, a black shape in the moonlight. Claire could see him moving around, but couldn't tell what he was doing. 

"Taking his rubbish out?" Myrnin suggested.

"At three in the morning, I don't think so" Claire said.

"It didn't say what time it was" Myrnin said. "And it could be a vampire".

"It's not" Claire said.

**She reached for her cell phone and dialled 911, and told the operator she needed either Joe Hess or Travis Lowe. Detective Lowe picked up the call, sounding wide awake even at three in the morning, and Claire described what she was seeing in a whisper, as if whoever was across the yard might hear her.**

"If they were a vampire they could" Michael said. "But seeing as they weren't there would have no chances of them hearing you".

"I know that but you try waking up at three and see how well your brain is working" Claire said.

"I'm usually still awake then" Michael reminded her. "But I see your point".****

"It's probably Jason," she said. She heard the scratch of pen on paper on the other end of the phone.

"Why Jason? Can you see his face?"

"It would be cool if you could" Eve said.

"It would make things easier" Claire nodded.

Claire's parents frowned again.****

"No," she admitted, "but Jason told me - he practically admitted it. About the dead girl. I think it's Jason, honest."

"Wouldn't surprise me if he really did kill all of those girls" Shane said.

"I don't think he did" Claire said.

"You just like to think of the best in people" Shane said.****

"Did he threaten you, Claire?"

"You could say that" Eve sighed.****

The cut on her wrist was still throbbing. "I guess you could say so," she said. "I was going to tell you about it, but I -I had things to do."

"He's not going to like that" Michael said.

"I know but what else could I say?" Claire shrugged.****

"More important that keeping us in the loop? Never mind. What happened?"

"Shouldn't I tell you when you get here?"

"What about sending a police car?" Claire's mum frowned getting worried.

"Don't worry mum everything went fine" Claire said.****

"Patrol car's already en route". 

"Good" Claire's parents nodded.

"**Where did you see him today?"**

"At the university," she said, and told the story. He didn't interrupt her, just let her talk, and she could hear him continuing to take notes.

"He must have been leaning close to the page" Eve said.

"Or he's just a loud writer" Claire said.****

When she paused for breath, Lowe said, "You know that was stupid, right? Look, next time you see him, you start screaming bloody murder. And put me and Hess on speed dial. Jason's nobody to play around with."

"Don't we know it" Shane nodded. "Sorry Eve".

"Don't worry" Eve sighed.****

"But - we were in public. He wouldn't have - "

"No one known's what a creep like him would do" Shane said and Michael nodded.

"He's right Claire" Michael nodded.****

"Ask Eve about why he ended up in jail in the first place, Claire. Next time, don't hesitate. This isn't about you being strong, this about you living through the day, all right? Trust me."

She swallowed hard. "I do."

"You know Claire you're too trusting" Shane said.

"Why? Because I trust vampires or Lowe?" Claire asked.

"Just everyone" Shane sighed. "One day that trust is going to get you hurt".

"Shane I can take care of myself" Claire said. ****

"Is he still there?"

"I don't know. I can't see him. He might've gone."

"I hope" Claire's parents both said.

"Don't worry the police are coming" Claire said.****

"The patrol car ought to be there in just a couple of seconds, they're doing a silent approach. You see them yet?"

"Claire wouldn't be able to see the car from her window" Eve said. "She would need to be in my room to see it".

"I wasn't about go sneak in to your room just look outside your window" Claire said.

"Yeah, you would have waken me up and then who knows what I would have done" Eve said.****

"No, but my room faces the alley." Something moved in the yard, and she felt a lurch of pure adrenaline. "I think - I think he's in the yard now. Coming to the house. To the back."

Both Claire's started to look even more worried.****

"Go wake up Michael and Shane. Make sure Eve's okay. Go now, Claire."

"You know I can't remember being waken up until the police were already there" Shane frowned.

"Same" Michael said and Eve nodded looking at Claire.

"Well you're going to find out soon why" Claire said trying not to look at Oliver.****

She wasn't dressed, but she supposed it didn't really matter; the oversized t-shirt she was wearing came to her knees anyway. She unlocked her door and swung it open, and yelled in shock.

"What now?" Myrnin asked.

Both Claire's parent's paled and started looking even more worried.

"Wait is the reason why you didn't wake us up sooner?" Michael asked.

"Pretty much" Claire said still trying not to look at Oliver.

"You know Claire I'm starting to think that the only way to keep you out of trouble would be to put you in a cage" Shane sighed. ****

Tried to, anyway. She couldn't quite get the sound out, because Oliver's

"Oliver!" half the room glared at him.

"I should have guessed" Shane said glaring at Oliver who rolled his eyes.

"I had some question that needed answer" Oliver shrugged.

"So you tried to kidnap Claire" Eve said coldly.

Oliver just shrugged.

"Guys you do realise who your yelling at right?" Claire asked.

"Claire's right I don't see why were so surprised" Michael shook his head.

**Hand clapped over her mouth, spun her around, and dragged her backward over the threshold. She screamed, but it was barely a buzz in her throat. Her bare heels scraped on the wood as she tried to get her feet under her, but he had her helpless and off balance. She dropped the phone.**

"Not that Lowe's could have done very much on the phone" Claire said.****

She could hear Lowe's voice distantly whispering her name, but it was blotted out by Oliver's soft voice in her ear as he bent close and said, "I only want to talk. Don't make me hurt you, girl. You know I will if you force me."

"Or even try to talk" Shane said.

"Don't worry I didn't do anything stupid" Claire said trying not to think about what everyone was going to say when they found out about her wrist.****

She went still, breathing hard. Had he been out there in the yard? How had he gotten up here so fast? Didn't the protections on the house keep him out, anyway?

"Not if the owner of the house is a vampire" Myrnin said.

"Yeah we know" Claire said.****

No. They only work against uninvited humans now, because Michael's -Michael's a vampire. Oliver had some way in and out. Easy access. God.

"Don't say it like that Claire" Eve frowned. "You're going to give me nightmares now".

"Well I can't help what my panicked brain thinks" Claire said.

"It's your head" Eve pointed out.****

"Good girl. Stay quiet," Oliver whispered. He looked up and down the hall, moved the painting next to the doorway, and pressed the hidden switch. The secret doorway across from Eve's room opened with a soft sigh, and he dragged her inside, then shut it. 

"I still don't like that room" Eve said. "It's still super creepy up there".

**No knob on the inside. The release switch was up a flight of stairs, and he'd never let her get there if she tried to run. When he let her go, Claire stayed where she was.**

He let his voice return to normal levels. Not afraid of being overheard, not here. 

"Claire do you have to make it even creepier by saying pretty much no one can hear you scream?" Eve shrived.

"Sorry" Claire said.

**"I thought it was time we had a talk. You signed an agreement with Amelie. That hurts me, Claire. I thought we had a special friendship, and after all, I did offer first."**

"Yeah, Oliver your my best friend" Claire rolled her eyes.

"Don't forget favourite cousin" Eve reminded them.

Oliver glared at Eve and Claire shook her head.

"Thanks Eve for reminding us" Claire said.

**Oliver smiled at her, that cold and oddly kind smile that had suckered her in the first few times she'd met him. "You turned me down. So why, I wonder, did you decide that Amelie would be a better choice?"**

He might know about Myrnin, but not what Myrnin did.

"Sadly I know Myrnin much too well for my liking" Oliver said.

"I completely agree" Myrnin nodded.

**Amelie had been pretty specific: he could never know that.**

"She smells better," Claire said. "And she made me cookies." Somehow, after the day she'd had, Oliver just didn't seem all that terrifying anymore.

"Big mistake my dear" Myrnin sighed.

"Not like you don't do it" Claire rolled her eyes.

"Yes but I am a vampire Claire" Myrnin remained her. "I can fight Oliver off but you could not".

Oliver rolled his eyes and Claire nodded.****

Until he bared his fangs, and his eyes went a strange, wide black. 

"Told you" Myrnin said.

**"No games," he said. "The room's soundproofed. Amelie used to play with her victims here, you know". **

"We guessed as much" Michael said.

"That's it, I am never going in that room again" Eve said.

"**It's a killing jar, and you're inside. So perhaps you should be more polite, if you intend to see morning."**

Claire held up her left wrist. The golden bracelet glinted in the light. "Bite it, Oliver".

"I'm so happy" Eve said wiping her eyes. "You sound just like me".

"Eve right now that's not a good thing" Michael said.

"**You can't touch me. You can't touch anybody in this house". **

"Wrong" Myrnin said. "You and Michael are safe by law but Eve and Collin's aren't".

"Myrnin we can talk about law and who could be killed later" Claire sighed.

"**I don't know how you got in, but - "**

"I don't like how that sentences didn't end" Shane said and Claire's parents nodded. ****

He grabbed her right wrist and ripped away the bandage cover the cut Jason had made. It broke open, and a red trickle ran from it down the interior of her arm.

"On, please tell me he's not going to do what I think he is" Eve grimaced.

"Somehow I think he is going to do what a vampire would do" Shane said glaring at Oliver.

"Oliver" Amelie frowned slightly. "We will speak about this later".****

Oliver licked it off.

Both Claire's parents paled and looked slightly green.

"Don't worry that's all he did" Claire said quickly after seeing her parents, Shane, Michael, Eve and even Myrnin's worried faces.

"Like that matter's he still... still" Shane said trying to find the right word.

"Acted just like a vampire trying to scare a human would" Claire said. "Please Shane we can fight about this later".****

"Okay, that's just gross," Claire said faintly.

"That's all you said?" Eve asked looking just as green as Claire's parents.

"It's not as if I had a comeback at the ready" Claire said.

**"Let go. Let go!"**

"That's a little better" Shane said frowning.****

"You belong to Amelie," he said, and let her go. "I can taste it. Smell it on you". 

"Ok I really don't like that little fact" Claire frowned.

"Don't worry Claire after Amelie realised you, you went back to being in your words 'your own person'" Myrnin said.

"That's a relief" Claire said. "I didn't hear that part back then because I was in shook".

"**You're right; I can't touch you, not anymore. But the others, you're wrong about them. While they're in the house they're safe, but not out there, not in my town. Not for long."**

"Oliver I thought we were friends" Shane said faking hurt.

"In your dream's Collin's" Oliver rolled his eyes.

"More like nightmares" Shane said.****

"I made a deal!"

"Did you? Did you see in writing that your friends would be protected from all attacks? Because I very much doubt that, little Claire. We've been writing agreements for thousands of years, and you're only sixteen years old". 

"A very good reason for you not to be making deals with people like this" Claire's dad said.

"I know and I'm sorry but I did what I did to try and keep my friends safe" Claire sighed. "Sadly I didn't think to read the fine print".

"Most people never do" Michael said.

"**You have no idea what kind of deal you've made." Oliver actually sounded a little sorry for her, and that was scary. He folded his arms and leaned against the door. He was in his usual good-guy disguise tonight: a tie-dyed tee shirt, battered cargo pants, his greying, curling hair pulled back in a ponytail. **

"You know Oliver if I was you I would be going for a more today type of style" Eve said but Oliver ignored her.

**He'd probably just closed up Common Grounds, she figured. He smelled like coffee. She wondered what Oliver wore on his days off, if he wasn't trying to intimidate.**

"The day that Oliver tries's to be soft and cuddly, will be the day that the moon full's on to the earth" Shane said.

"I have to agree with you Shane" Eve nodded.

**Pyjamas? Fuzzy slippers? One thing she'd figured out about the vampires in Morganville, they were never exactly what they seemed to be, even the bad ones.**

"But I think you can count Oliver out of that one Claire" Shane said.

Claire nodded but stoped when she thought about what happened between Amelie and Oliver just before Amelie lost her memories.****

"Fine," she said, and backed away from him until her heels hit the first step. She sat down. "You tell me what I've done."

"You've upset the balance of power in the town, and that's a terrible thing, little Claire".

"Yes Claire what were you thinking?" Shane joked.

"This and that" Claire shrugged.

"**You see, Amelie intended to be queen of this little kingdom. She thought I was safely dead when she did so. When I came here a year ago, many people decided that they'd rather listen to me than to her. Not all, of course, and not even a majority. But she's won no real friends during her long existence, and it isn't only the humans who are trapped here, you know. It's the vampires as well."**

This was a new idea to her. "What are you talking about?"

"You know I never thought about it like that" Eve said.

"It's weird to think about" Claire nodded.****

"We can't leave," he said. "Not without her permission. As I said, she fancies herself the cold white queen, and most are content to let her. Not all. I was working to come to some - arrangements with her, to let a number of us leave Morganville and set up a community outside of her influence". 

"Like Blake town?" Eve asked.

"Pretty much" Claire nodded.

"**Things had been static here for fifty years, you see, since she made the last vampire. Now Amelie feels the need to protect her position. She's blocked me. She won't allow me to make a move without her permission." He lowered his chin and stared at her, and it chilled her deep inside. "I don't like to be controlled. I tend to get - unhappy."**

"Really? I would never have guessed" Shane rolled his eyes.

"Don't start Shane" Claire sighed as Oliver gave Shane a creepy look.****

"Why are you talking to me? What can I do?"

"Good question, what can Claire do?" Claire's dad asked.

"Don't worry" Claire said. "It will most likely say in a minute".****

"You, little stupid child, are her pet. When you want something, she indulges you. I want to know why."

"Indulges me? Oliver you make me sound like a little kid asking for food" Claire rolled her eyes.

Oliver didn't both to answer.****

Amelie hadn't exactly indulged her the last time they'd talked, although the cell phone sitting abandoned in her room might argue otherwise.

"And all the other one's that you have got to" Eve said.

"Yeah Eve I'm sure that would have really helped my case" Claire said.

**"I don't know!"**

"She thinks you have something she needs, or she'd hardly bother. She's seen whole cities die without shedding a tear or lifting a finger. It's not altruism."

"It must have something to do with you working for Myrnin then" Claire's dad said.

Claire nodded but didn't say anything.****

Myrnin. It's about Myrnin. If I wasn't learning from him ... She couldn't say that, didn't even dare to really think it through. Oliver was unnerving, and sometimes he seemed downright psychic. 

"Thanks for the nightmare Claire" Eve said.

"Eve I have a feeling that there are going to be lots more nightmares in this chapter" Claire said.

"Great" Eve sighed.

**"Maybe she's lonely."**

That made everyone look at Amelie who, stopped reading and looked at Claire for a few minutes before going back to reading.****

He laughed, a harsh bark of sound with no amusement in it. "She certainly deserves to be."

"That's a little harsh" Myrnin frowned.

"Shut up" Oliver snapped.

**He took a step forward. "Tell me why she needs you, Claire. Tell me what she's hiding, and I'll make a deal, a perfectly straightforward one: I'll give your friends my direct Protection. No one will hurt them."**

"Yeah, like we would trust you anymore then we would trust Amelie" Shane rolled his eyes.

"I so agree with that" Eve nodded.****

She didn't say anything this time, she just looked back at him. She didn't dare not look at him; even when she was watching him she had the eerie feeling that somehow he was creeping up behind her, ready to do something awful to her when she least expected it.

"That would be because he could without you even seeing it happen" Myrnin said.

"Again I will ask if everyone could stop giving me nightmares" Eve sighed.

"Eve I don't think you're going to get your wish" Michael said.****

Oliver made a sound of deep frustration. "You stupid, stupid girl." He shoved past her, going up the stairs so lightly the wood hardly even creaked.

"Yes, I know Myrnin Vampire" Claire said before Myrnin started speaking.

**After a second, the hidden, knobless door sighed open. Claire got up, steadied herself for a second, and then stepped out into the hallway. Nobody else had heard a thing, apparently. It was quiet as the grave.**

"Again, Claire would you please stop" Eve groaned.

"Sorry Eve" Claire smiled.****

Oliver's hands closed around her shoulders, and he moved her out of his way by simply picking her up and putting her down, as if she weighed nothing.

"For a vampire you do" Myrnin said.

"I don't know if that's a good thing or not" Claire said.

**He didn't let go once he'd done it, he stepped up behind her, bent down, and whispered, "Not a sound, Claire. If you wake your friends and they come against me, I'll destroy you all. Understand?"**

"So that's why you never told us about Oliver's not so nice visit" Eve frowned.

"Yep" Claire nodded.****

She nodded.

She felt the cold pressure of his hands go away, but not his presence, and she was surprised when she looked back and saw that he was gone.

As if he'd never been there at all.

"One thing vampires are good at" Shane said. "Other than killing that is".

"Don't go there Shane" Claire sighed.****

She pressed the button behind the painting, and the hidden door sealed itself. Then she picked up her phone from the floor of her bedroom. The call had ended; Travis Lowe was probably on his way over, burning sirens all the way.

"At least the police will be there soon" Claire's dad said.****

She sat down to wait for the panic to start.

"And boy did it start" Eve said.****

There just had to be something out there in the alley, given the response.

"I don't like the sound of that" Claire's Dad frowned.

"And you want like the reason for all the Police" Claire muttered so her parents wouldn't hear.

**It wasn't just a couple of cops, some yellow tape, and a writeup in Captain Obvious's underground newspaper; it looked, from Claire's window, like a full-blown CSI-style investigation, with people in white jumpsuits collecting evidence and everything.**

"They had a lot more evidence then I thought they would get" Eve said.

**There was a big blocky van with heavily tinted windows that she guessed housed vampire detectives or forensics people or something, with the emblem of the Morganville police on the side, and she guessed the majority of people roaming around in Michael's back yard this morning were, in fact, the undead.**

Crime-solving undead. That was new.

"I guess vampires would be good at smelling and finding things with their eyes then humans" Eve nodded.

"It would make things easier" Michael nodded.****

She wasn't sure what she was feeling anymore. Light-headed, disconnected, looped. Last night had felt like a dream, and it had passed in a blur from the time she and Shane had come upstairs until she'd heard the rattle of trash cans in the alley.

"Not a very nice dream" Claire said.

"I don't think many people would call that a good dream sweet heart" Claire's mum said.****

Someone was ringing the doorbell downstairs. She didn't move away from the window - couldn't seem to convince herself to move at all, in fact.

"I was still pretty shaken up no thanks' to Oliver" Claire sighed.

"I would be worried if you weren't" Shane said.

**It was probably the cops. Travis Lowe had, as she'd thought, already come racing to the rescue, but on finding her unfanged and still alive, he'd called in the full-on police assault. **

"If it hadn't been so serious it would have been cool" Eve said.

"Yeah, I have to agree with you on that one" Shane nodded.

**So those were probably the detectives, Gretchen and Hans, or maybe Richard Morrell coming to take her statement.**

"Fun, fun and more fun" Claire sighed.

"Don't sound so happy about it Claire" Eve said.****

Claire looked down at herself. I should probably get dressed. Her wrist was a mess, smeared with slow-leaking blood, and she pressed her t-shirt against it before she could think about what she was doing. 

"I hope you put it in some cold water to stop it from staining" Claire's mum said.

"Yes mum don't worry I did" Claire nodded.

**Great, now she wasn't only undressed, she was undressed in bloody nightclothes.**

"Wouldn't be the first time in Morganville" Shane said.

"And I doubt that it will be the last time either" Eve nodded.****

It took ten minutes to shower, change, and bandage up her arm, and then she padded down the stairs in bare feet to face the music.

"Some of the worst music I have ever heard" Shane said.

"No need to tell us" Eve nodded as the other's looked confused.****

Her housemates were all standing in the living room, and they all looked at her with identical expressions, blank enough that she came to a stop on the steps. "What?" Claire asked. "What'd I do now?"

"Feeling guilty about not telling us about Oliver?" Eve asked.

"I might have been feeling guilty but there was no way that I was telling any of you after that" Claire said.

"Don't worry we understand" Michael said.****

Michael stepped aside so Claire could see who was sitting cross-legged in the chair, flipping through a bubble-gum pink edition of Teen People.

"Let me guesses that little make believe princess has come for a visit" Myrnin said.****

Monica Morrell.

"Good guesses" Claire said.

"The magazine gave it away" Myrnin said.

"How do you even know that it's a magazine?" Eve asked.

"I get bored" Myrnin shrugged.****

She was dressed in a pink tight-fitting top with diamonds that spelled out BITCH/PRINCESS, and white short-shorts that even Daisy Duke would have thrown out as too trashy. 

"I'm ashamed to say that they looked good to" Eve said.

**Her tan was deep and dark, and she was lazily dangling a pink flip-flop with a yellow flower on top from her perfectly manicured toes.**

"Hey, Claire!" she said, and stood up. "I thought we could grab some breakfast."

"You know when I saw her like that I thought that she must have been drunk" Shane said.

"Or high, who can be sure with her?" Eve said.

"I don't think Monica is really the type to get high" Michael said.

"Sorry Michael but your wrong there" Claire sighed. "Tell you later but it will properly be in this book".****

"I - what?"

"Break ... fast," Monica said, drawing out the word. "Most important meal of the day? Do you even have parents?"

Claire felt ridiculously off balance. "I don't understand. Why are you here?"

"That's what we were wondering" Shane said.****

Shane leaned against the wall, glaring at Monica. He had a serious bed-head thing going on, and Claire wanted to run her hands through his thick, soft hair and return it to its usual shaggy mess. 

Eve started laughing as Claire blushed and tried to ignore Eve.

**"What a good question. The second best one being, who let her inside? And we're going to have to throw out that chair. The smell's never coming out."**

"Very true" Eve nodded.

"Michael I still don't get why you didn't let me burn it" Shane said.

Michael rolled his eyes but didn't answer.****

"I let her in," Michael said quietly, and that got him a stare from Shane. "Lay off the daggers. It was better to let her in than have her pitch a fit on the porch with all the cops around. We've already got enough trouble."

"Trouble and us?" Eve said. "Never".

"I wish" Claire sighed.****

"What's this we, paleface? I mean that in the vampire sense, not - "

"Shut up, man."

Claire rubbed her forehead, feeling her headache blooming back to hot, throbbing life. 

"You really should have had a few more hours sleep dear" Claire's mum frowned.

"After that night?" Claire said. "Not likely".

**She ignored Michael and Shane with an effort and focused on Monica, who had a malicious smile curving her lips. "You're enjoying this," Claire said. Monica shrugged.**

"She loves seeing people fight about her" Eve said.

"And over her" Shane said.****

"Of course. They're jackasses to me most of the time, it's nice to see them take it out on each other for a change. Not that I care." Monica arched one perfectly groomed eyebrow. "So? I know you like coffee. I've seen you drinking it."

"Is she asking you to have coffee with her?" Myrnin asked. "After everything she has did to you".

"She's not asking" Claire said. "She's saying I am".****

Eve stepped in between them, and for a second Claire thought her friend honestly looked ... dangerous.

"I think I'll take that as a complement" Eve said.

**"You're not taking Claire anywhere. And you're sure not taking her anywhere near that son of a bitch," she said.**

"Which son of a bitch would that be, exactly? Because hey, she lives here. It's not like she's choosy about who she hangs out with."

"That was pretty tame for Monica" Michael said.

"I know" Shane nodded.****

Eve bunched up a fist, and for a second Claire thought she was going to haul off and slug Monica right in her perfect, pouty mouth. 

"I wish" Eve said.

"We all wish" Shane said.

**But Eve checked herself. Barely.**

"It was touch and go for a moment" Eve said.****

"You so need to leave our house," Eve said. "Now. Before something bad happens that I won't really regret."

Monica gave her a look that said just how unimpressed she was with the threat. "I'm sorry, were you talking? Because I think I dropped off. Claire? I'm not here to banter with the mentally challenged. I'm just trying to be friendly". 

"That was Monica trying to be nice?" Eve rolled her eyes.

"I think she skipped a few chapters on how to be nice" Shane agreed.

"**If you don't want to go, just say so."**

"Trust me I didn't want to go" Claire sighed.

"Who would?" Eve said.****

Claire felt ridiculously like laughing, it was so weird. Why was this happening to her?

"That's the age old question" Michael said. "Why is it always Claire?"

"I don't think we will ever know the answer to that one man" Shane said.

"Weirder things have happened" Eve said.****

"What do you really want?" she asked, and Monica's lovely, crazy eyes widened. Just a little.

"I want to talk to you without the Losers Club hanging over my shoulder. I figured we could have breakfast, but if you're allergic to caffeine and pastry ..."

"No, just the person sitting on the other side of the table" Eve said.

"Somehow I don't think even Monica would believe that" Claire sighed.

"Such a shame" Shane said.****

"Anything you can say to me, you can say in front of my friends," Claire said. That brought both of Monica's eyebrows up.

"Ooooo...kay. Your funeral," she said, and glanced at Shane. "So where was your boyfriend last night after midnight?"

Claire's parents frowned.

"Not like that" Claire said seeing their faces. "You'll find out soon".****

"Who? Shane?" What time had she left his room, anyway? Late. But ... not after midnight.

"None of your damn business where I was," Shane said to Monica. "Eve told you to get out. The next step is I throw your skanky ass and see if you bounce when you hit the porch".

"We really should test and find out one day" Eve said.

"I do the hitting and Michael brings the popcorn and then you bring the camera" Shane said.

"Deal" Eve nodded.

"**I don't care whose pet you are, you don't come here and - "**

"Shane," Monica interrupted with elaborate calm, "shut the hell up. I saw you, idiot."

Claries parents frowned.

"And the plot thickens" Myrnin said.

"Yeah, because that's really helping Myrnin" Claire said.****

Claire waited for Shane to give her a biting comeback, but he just sat there. Watching her. His eyes had gone very dark.

"Don't fall in to them Claire" Eve warned before laughing as Claire blushed.

"Thanks for reminding me" Claire groaned.****

"They don't know, do they?" Monica continued, and tapped her rolled-up copy of Teen People against her hip. "Wow. Shocker. Bad boy keeps secrets. That never happens."

"Shut up, Monica."

"Come on Collins, you can do better than that" Oliver said.

"Shut up" Shane muttered.****

"Or you'll what? Kill me?" She smiled. "There wouldn't even be DNA left when they got done with you, Shane. And the rest of you, too. And your families."

"What's she talking about?" Eve asked. "Shane?"

"That is what I would like to know" Claries dad frowned.

"Don't worry" Claire said but her parents didn't stop frowning.****

"Nothing."

"Nothing," Monica mocked. "Deny everything. That's a brilliant plan. Then again, it's what I'd expect from someone like you."

"Is it just me or do you feel like going out and slapping Monica?" Eve asked Michael.

"I think Shane would bet you to it Eve" Michael said.****

Michael was frowning at Shane now, and Claire couldn't resist, either. Shane's dark eyes darted to each of them in turn, Claire last.

"I was starting to get worried when you were all looking at me like that" Shane sighed.

"Sorry, it's just that I was trying to work out what Monica was getting at" Claire said.

"Don't worry about it Claire" Shane shrugged.****

"The cops aren't going to find any bodies out there in the alley. And they're not going to find one anywhere else in your house," Monica said, "because Shane moved a body last night, out the back door."

Both Claries parents paled and started to look between Claire and Shane.****

Shane still wasn't saying anything. Claire covered her mouth with her hand. "No," she said. "You're lying."

"You mean you... You..." Claire's mum said pointing at Shane.

"No mum, dad Shane has never killed anyone" Claire said fast. "You'll find out soon".****

Monica folded her arms. "Why exactly would I do that? All it takes is for him to deny it. Ask him. Go on." She was staring right at Shane.

Shane's eyes narrowed, but he didn't say anything. For a frozen second or two, nobody moved, and then Michael said, "Christ, Shane, what the hell?"

"I was to Shocked to really speak" Claire sighed.

"I was thinking the same thing as Michael" Eve said. ****

"Shut up!" Shane snapped.

"Temper, temper" Myrnin said.

"Like your one to talk" Shane rolled his eyes.

Myrnin went to open his mouth but Claire stopped him.

"It's a saying Myrnin" Claire said.

**"I had to! I thought I heard something down in the basement last night, when I was getting some water in the kitchen. So I went to check it out. And - "He stopped, and Claire saw his Adam's apple bob as he swallowed, hard.**

"For a moment I thought it was Claire or Eve" Shane grimaced.

"I know the feeling" Michael nodded.

"**She was dead down there. At the bottom of the stairs, like somebody had just ... thrown her. For a second I thought it was - "He glanced at Eve, then away.**

"She had the same black hair and she about the same size" Shane said.

Everyone looked at Eve before turning back to the book.

**"I just thought it was you. I thought you'd tripped and fallen down the stairs or something. But when I got down there, it wasn't you. And she was dead, not just knocked out."**

"Shocked me at the same time" Shane said.

"I know what you mean" Claire nodded.****

Eve sank down on the arm of the sofa, looking as stunned as Claire felt. "Who? Who was it?"

"I think that was the sad part" Eve said. "That we didn't even know who she was in the first place".

"It did make things sadder somehow" Michael agreed.****

"I didn't recognize her. Some college girl, I guess, she didn't look local and she wasn't wearing a bracelet." Shane took in an audible deep breath. "Look, we've been in enough trouble as it is. I had to get rid of her. So I wrapped her up in one of the blankets out of the boxes down there and carried her out. I put her in the trunk of your car - "

"I agree not one of my smarts moments but I panicked" Shane said.

"I would be worried if you didn't" Claire said. "I mean it's not the normal thing to find dead bodies in your house even in this town".

"And in this modern would" Myrnin said.****

"You what?" Michael snapped.

" - and I drove her to the church. I left her there, inside. I didn't want to just - dump her. I thought - " Shane shook his head. "I thought it was the right thing to do."

"Yes and no" Myrnin inclined his head to the right side.

"What do you mean 'yes and no'?" Claire asked.

"Moving the body was a very bad idea" Myrnin said. "But for some humans a church would be safe place if you believed in a higher being that is". ****

Monica sighed. She was checking out her fingernails with exaggerated boredom. "Yeah, yeah, touching. The point is, when I saw you, you were hauling a dead chick into the trunk of his car. And I just can't wait to tell my brother. You know my brother, right? The cop?"

"Was that Monica trying to be tough?" Eve asked.

"She did have a good point Eve" Michael said.

"Please don't say that Michael" Eve said. "It makes me feel sick".****

Unbelievable. "What do you want?" Claire practically yelled it at her.

"You made me jump when you first did that" Eve said and Shane nodded.

"Sorry but I was a little stressed out" Claire said.

"Well after what Oliver did I don't think anyone can blame you" Shane said glaring at Oliver who rolled his eyes.****

"I told you. Breakfast." Monica gave her a sunny movie-star smile. 

"That makes you want to be sick" Eve said acting like she was going to be sick.

"No that's just her being in the same room" Shane said.

**"Please. If you say yes, I just could forget all about what I saw. Especially since I was, you know, out after curfew and doing things I really don't want my daddy to know about anyway".**

"I wouldn't be surprised if 'daddy' already knows all about what she used to get up to late at night" Shane rolled his eyes.

"And still douse" Claire said. "I don't like Monica but if she's not carful then she's going to end up being hurt or killed if she keeps doing whatever she likes".

"And that family have already had a hard time with their dad dyeing just like that" Eve nodded.

"**Think of it as mutually assured destruction."**

It sounded like a deal, but it wasn't, not really. Monica had all the cards, and they had none. None at all.

"I hate it when it's like that" Eve said and Shane nodded.

"And it's sad because that's what it's like every day in this town" Shane nodded.****

"There's no body in the alley," Claire said. "The police aren't going to find anything. You're sure?"

"Don't think so, but wouldn't that suck for you if they did?" Monica shrugged, puckered her lips, and blew Shane a mocking kiss.

"When she did that I thought Shane was going to hit her or something" Claire sand and Eve nodded.

"Luckily for her I don't hit girls" Shane said.

"But if you were to ever brake that rule it would so be on between you and her" Eve said.

**"You've got guts, Shane. No brains, but a whole lot of guts. You thought it out, right? Now that Michael's one of the chosen undead, humans can't get in this house without an invitation. So you have to either blame it on a vampire, or face up that one of you killed her".**

"And I wonder who would be blamed?" Shane rolled his eyes.

"**Either way, it's not going to be pretty, and somebody's going down." She held up her hand. "I vote for Shane. Anybody else?"**

"It's a sad day when Shane and Monica think the same" Claire said.

"Very" Michael agreed.****

"Leave him alone!" Claire said sharply. "You want to go out, fine. We'll go. - No, don't you even start!" Eve hadn't even had a chance to do more than open her mouth, and now she shut it, fast. 

"What can I say Claire can be terrifying when she's angry" Eve said as Shane, Michael and even Myrnin all nodded.

"Im not that bad" Claire said going pink.

"You really are" Michael said.

**"You guys work it out between the three of you. I won't be long. Believe me, I probably won't be able to keep anything down, whatever I manage to eat."**

"I can believe that" Shane said.

"Same" Eve agreed****

Monica nodded, as if she'd known it would happen all along, and did a runway model's walk down the hall toward the front door. From the back, her shorts were barely legal.

Everyone looked at Claire.

"It's not like I was looking" Claire said.

"I'm sure you weren't" Eve said.

"I really wasn't" Claire said but no one was listing.****

And however much they hated her, Shane and Michael were watching her go.

"Guys," Claire and Eve rolled their eyes.

"Shut up" both Michael and Shane said looking embarrassed.****

"Guys," Claire muttered, and grabbed her backpack.

Claire hadn't been inside of Common Grounds in a while, but it hadn't changed. It was bohemian, warm, packed to the gills with college types grabbing their morning venti-whatever, and if Claire hadn't known better - known very well - she'd never have believed that the nice, smiling hippie type behind the counter was a vampire.

"It still creep's me out how easy it was to trick pretty much everyone" Eve said.

"Same" Claire nodded.****

Oliver locked gazes with her and nodded slightly. His face stayed pleasant. "Nice to see you back," he said. "What'll it be?"

Much as she hated to admit it, he made the best drinks in town. Better than Eve, actually.

"That is what comes from hundreds of years practise" Myrnin said.

**"White mocha," she said. "With whip." She managed to hold back from adding anything more, because she didn't like being nice to him. God, he'd been licking blood off her wrist two hours ago! **

All the humans grimaced and Myrnin frowned at Oliver.

**The least she could do was not say please and thank you.**

"No charge," he said, and waved away the five dollar bill she dug out of her jeans pocket. 

"And hell has frozen over" Eve said.

"Tell me about it" Claire nodded.

**"A welcome-back present, Claire. Ah, Monica. You're usual?"**

"Yes and don't forget the big spoon full of poison" Shane said in a girly voices.

"If Only" Oliver said to quietly for human ear's.****

"Half-caff no foam double pump latte, with pink sugar," she said. "In a real cup, not that foam stuff."

"A simple yes would suffice," he said. As Monica started to turn away, he reached out and grabbed her wrist. He did it in such a way that nobody but Claire would notice, but it was unmistakably threatening.

"When isn't Oliver being threatening?" Shane said.

"I think we all know the answer to that question" Eve said as Oliver glared at them.

**"She doesn't pay. You do, Monica. You may think of yourself as a princess, but trust me. I've met them, and you don't qualify." **

"Really?" Claire's mum asked.

Oliver didn't answer but got a scary look in his eyes.

"Mum I don't think you really want to hear too much of any vampires past lives" Claire said.

"And knowing Oliver that's even more true" Michael said.

**He grinned just a little, but there was no humour in his eyes. "Well, perhaps met isn't quite the right word."**

"Eaten?" Claire supplied acidly. His smiled turned darker.

"See?" Claire asked her parents who both nodded.****

"Oh, the charm and elegance of the younger generation. It does warm my heart." Oliver let go of Monica's arm and stepped away to make the drinks.

"You have a heart?" Shane asked Oliver.

"You are walking on very dangers ground Collin's" Oliver said looking ready to flash his fangs at Shane.

"Funny because I don't seem to be moving any were" Shane said looking around.

"Shane shut up, please" Claire said glancing at Oliver.

Shane glared at Oliver but didn't say anything else.

**Monica backed away, looking flushed. She threw a dirty look at Claire - yeah, like it's my fault, Claire thought**

"Claire when are you going to get that everything is your fault?" Eve asked Claire joking.

"Thanks Eve" Claire rolled her eyes.

"Any time" Eve said.

**-and stalked to the table in the corner. The one the deceased vampire Brandon had once staked out**

"Nice pun" Shane said.

"And I meant it" Claire said.

**- pun intended - as his own. There were two young college girls sitting there, with books and papers piled up. Monica folded her arms and took up a belligerent pose.**

"You're in my chair," she said. "Move."

"Friendly" Eve said.

"Very" Claire nodded.****

The two girls - shorter and pudgier than Monica - stared up with saucer-huge eyes. One of them stammered, "Which one of us?"

"I feel sorry for them" Michael said.

"I feel sorry for anyone that has to be in the same room as Monica" Shane said.****

"Both," Monica snapped. "I like my space. Get out."

They gathered up papers and books and hurried away, nearly dumping coffee all over Claire in their haste to go. 

"I'm sure Claire would have looked lovely coved in coffee" Eve joked.

"I'm sure I would have" Claire rolled her eyes.

**"Did you have to do that?" Claire asked.**

"No. It was just fun." Monica sat, crossed her smooth tanned legs, and patted the table. "Come on, Claire. Have a seat. We have so much to talk about."

"Great" Shane said.****

She didn't want to, but it was stupid to stand there, looking obvious. So she sat, dumped her backpack on the floor next to her feet, and concentrated the scarred wood of the table top. 

"That must have been fun" Shane rolled his eyes.

"I couldn't stop laughing" Claire said.

**She could see Monica's flip flop living up to its name as the other girl casually jiggled her foot. It reminded her ridiculously of Myrnin, and the dirty flip flops he wore.**

"Of all the things for you to be thinking of at the moment Claire" Eve said.

"How many times do I have to say my mind is weird" Claire shrugged.

"Don't need to me" Eve said.****

"That's better." Monica sounded way too pleased with herself. Not cool. "So Tell me all about it."

"All about what? What brand of tooth paste dose Shane use?" Eve rolled her eyes.

"I wouldn't put it past her" Shane said darkly.****

"About what?"

"Whatever Amelie's got you doing," Monica said. 

"That was fast" Myrnin said.

"No that was Morganville gossip queen" Claire said.

**"Your super secret stuff. I mean, she picked you for a reason, and it's not for your charm and good looks, right? Obviously. It's for your brains, right?"**

"Dose she really think that you're just going to tell her everything?" Shane said.

"Yep" Claire said.

"**You don't have any family here, you've got nothing anybody wants other than that."**

Monica was smarter than she looked. 

"That's a scary thought" Eve said.

"I know" Claire nodded.

**"Amelie's not asking me to do anything," Claire lied. "Maybe she will later, I don't know. But she hasn't yet." She nervously twisted the gold bracelet circling her left wrist. It was starting to remind her of those bands biologists put on endangered species.**

"Or lab rat's" Myrnin said.

"Creepy" Claire said as everyone looked at her.****

And lab animals.

"Myrnin stop talking like Claire 'it's freaking me out" Eve said.

"It is starting to scare me as well" Myrnin said.****

Monica's eyes were half-closed when Claire risked a glance upward. "Huh," she said. "Really. Well, that's disappointing. I really thought you'd have something good I could use. Oh well. Then let's talk about making a deal."

"What is it about me that tall's everyone that I want to make a deal?" Claire sighed.

"It's the people or things you know" Michael said.

"That makes me feel so much better Michael" Claire rolled her eyes.****

"A deal?" First Jason, now Monica. How had Claire stepped into the role of negotiator?

"God I hope not" Claire said.****

"I want to negotiate with Amelie for Protection. You can give me an introduction. And a recommendation."

Half the room started laughing at this.

"She has got to be joking" Shane said.

"This is Monica" Claire pointed out.****

Claire nearly laughed. "Ask her yourself!"

"I would love to be a fly on the wall in that room" Eve said.****

"I would, but she won't let me near her. She doesn't like me."

"Big shocker" Shane rolled his eyes.

"Who would have thought" Eve said.****

"I'm shocked," Claire muttered under her breath.

"It was a little launder then under my breath" Claire said. "After all Monica did hear what I said".

"All well" Shane said.****

Monica gave her a long look, one strangely missing the usual hip, ironic, contemptuous features. It looked almost ... earnest. 

"It was freaky seeing it on her face" Claire said.

"It would have been" Michael nodded.

**"Since Brandon died, Oliver took over his contracts. The thing is, he's not keeping most of them. He's trading them for favours with other vampires. If I don't make a better deal, there's no telling what could happen to me." Monica pointed at Claire's bracelet. "Might as well start at the top."**

"Is she really serious?" Eve started at the book in disbelief.

"Trust me I don't think she has ever been so serous in her life" Claire said.****

Claire drummed her short fingernails on the table, glaring at the bar where it seemed like Oliver was taking forever to deliver their drinks.

"You were doing that on purpures" Claire said.

"Maybe I was maybe was not" Oliver said.

"Meaning he was" Myrnin said making Oliver glare at him.

**It occurred to her to wonder if it was really safe to drink something prepared by a vampire who'd been threatening her just a couple of hours before, but honestly, if Oliver wanted to get her, it wasn't like it would be hard for him.**

"There would be no point to killing you any why" Oliver said as if he had thought about it before.

"I wish I could say that I believe you Oliver" Claire said. "Knowing how you think".****

And she really wanted the white mocha.

"Oliver's your Patron now?"

"Sadly" Oliver said.

"I may not like you Oliver but I feel sorry for you having to take care of her" Myrnin said.****

"For now. Until he finds something he wants more than holding onto my contract, anyway."

"Is he behind you asking about why Amelie signed me up?"

"No Oliver would do that in person" Claire glared at Oliver.

"I don't think I really want to know" Shane said.****

"Do I look like I run somebody else's errands?"

"Doesn't mean that she want be made to" Eve said.****

Claire glanced back again at the bar. "Maybe."

"I would have loved to see her face if you hade of said yes" Shane said.

"She would have kicked me" Claire said.

"Still would have been funny seeing her face" Shane said.****

Monica went quiet. It wasn't the comfortable kind of silence, and Claire was glad when Oliver called out their orders.

"First and only time in my life I have been happy to hear Olives voices" Claire said before thinking. "Or throe when everyone forgot three years of there life".

Oliver rolled his eyes.

**She jumped up to get hers, hesitated, and then picked up Monica's as well. She managed to do it without making eye contact with Oliver. He was just a dark shape at the corner of her eye, and she turned her back on him as soon as she could.**

Monica had gotten up, and she looked honestly surprised when Claire handed her the drink. 

"I would have poured it on her" Shane said.

"We know" most of the room said.

**"What?" Claire asked. "It's called being polite, they probably didn't teach you that at home. Doesn't mean I like you or anything."**

"Like that will ever happen" Claire said.

"I'm very happy to hear that Claire" Eve said.****

Monica seemed to have to think hard about what to say to that, and finally came up with a simple "Thanks." Which, Claire had to admit, might have been the nicest thing Monica had ever managed to say to her.

Claire thought about it a moment. "Still is the niece's thing she has ever said".

"I can believe that" Michael said.

**Claire gave her a nod and sat down again. Peace in our time, she thought wryly. And promptly blew it by asking again, "Did Oliver put you up to it?"**

"You really are good at asking a question and at the same time making things worse" Eve said.

"Thanks Eve" Claire rolled her eyes. "That makes me feel really loved".

"Had to be said Claire" Eve said.****

Monica didn't even glance his direction. "No." But somehow, Claire didn't believe her.

"I don't believe most of the things she say's" Shane said.

"Neither do I" Claire nodded.****

"Do you have to do everything he says?" she asked, as if Monica hadn't just lied. And Monica lifted one shoulder in a half-shrug. No other answer. 

"I don't think I have ever heard of a time that Monica wasn't talking about one thing or another" Eve said and the others nodded.

"It was strange" Claire nodded.

**"So you don't really want to talk to me, do you? You've just been told to do it."**

"Not exactly." Monica smiled slightly, and very bitterly. "Check it out: you're a star. Everybody wants to know about you, vampires and humans. 

"Which is creepy" Claire said.

"I know" Eve said. "I had people asking all this stuff about you".

"You never told me that" Claire said surprised.

"I didn't want you to freak out" Eve said.

**They're looking into your history, your family's history. If you farted in grade school, somebody in Morganville knows it now."**

"Now that is just super creepy" Claire said.

"I don't think anyone would have been able to find out to much about your family other then were you come from, what school you went to that sort of thing" Myrnin said.

"I'm glade to hear that" Claire said. "I don't know what I would do if everyone found out that me and Oliver are cousins".

"I feel the same why" Oliver said.****

Claire almost choked on her first mouthful of white mocha. "What?"

"Come on Claire you can come up with something better then that" Shane said.

"Not at that very moment I couldn't" Claire said.****

"The Founder isn't what you might call accessible. And most of the vamps don't understand her any better than we do. They're always looking for clues about who she is, what she's doing here, with this town. 

"Which if you think about it is pretty obvious" Claire said.

"That's why no one will ever work it out because it is so obvious that it's not" Myrnin said.

"Right" Eve and Shane said.

**This isn't normal, you know. The way they live here." Monica's gaze flicked to Oliver, then away. "He's old enough to know more than most, but he still needs inside information. And the word is, you could be the way to get it."**

"I really hate the word sometimes" Claire said.

"Hay I like the word he's been very good to me in the past" Eve said.

"To you yes but for me no" Claire said.****

Claire rolled her eyes. "I'm nobody. And if she cared about me at all - which she doesn't - she'd never let anybody know it. I mean, look how she treats - " She stopped herself cold, heart suddenly hammering fast. 

"I almost let Myrnin's name slip" Claire said.

"That would have been very bad for your health Claire" Myrnin said.

"I know" Claire said.

**She'd almost said Myrnin, and that would have been bad.**

"A little more than bad I would say" Michael said.

**" - Sam," she finished lamely. Which was also true, but Monica had to have noticed her stumble.**

"Monica spends most of her time getting people to tell her things of course she's going to be able to tell that your making it up" Eve said.

"I know trust me" Claire sighed.****

Which Monica emphasized by waiting for a full ten seconds of silence before she continued.

"Who would have thought that ten seconds could be so long?" Claire said.

**"Whatever. The point is, you're sort of famous, and by hanging with you, I get seen by the right people doing the right thing. Which is all I care about. You're right, I don't care if we're BFFs. We're not going to trade clothes and get matching tattoos".**

"No that's my job" Eve said.

"Claire you had better not have a tattoo" Claire's parents said.

"Trust me after Bishop there is no way that I'm getting a tattoo" Claire winced thinking about it.

"**I've got friends. I need allies." **

"She sounds a little like a vampire there" Shane said.

"I don't want to really think about it too hard" Claire said.

**She sipped her complicated drink, her eyes steady on Claire. "Oliver wants what you know, yeah. And this - " She tapped her own bracelet. " - This says that I do what he says, or else."**

"I don't want to think about what that or else could be" Claire said.

"Nothing nice I would say" Myrnin said.****

"Or else what?"

"Leave it to Claire ask" Eve said.****

Monica looked down. "You've met him. Best case, it means he hurts me. Bad. Worst case ... he trades me down."

"How can that be worse than being killed or hurt?" Mum asked.

"It is in Monica's world" Claire said a little sadly.

Claire's parents shook their heads.****

"That's worse?"

"I forgot who I was talking to" Claire said.****

"Yeah. That means I get handed to the bottom-of-the-barrel vamps, the ones too lame to get the good earners and the pretty people. 

The older vampire's raised their eyebrows at this.

"Perhaps Oliver you should have little talk with your pet" Myrnin said.

"Oh I will be" Oliver said.

**That means I'm a loser." She looked down and fidgeted with her ceramic coffee cup, frowning at it. "Sounds shallow, maybe, but around here, it's survival. **

"Sadly she's right" Eve said.

**If Oliver blackballs me, I can't get anything but the freaks and the skanks, the ones who get their fix the hard way. They'll kill me, if I'm lucky. If not, I end up some strung-out junkie fang-banger."**

"Oliver I think I will join you when you talk to miss Morrell" Ameile said not looking up.

"I look forward to it" Oliver said as the humans shrived.****

She said it with such dry, matter-of-fact intensity that Claire could tell she'd spent a lot of time thinking about it.

"I think most of the town has thought about it at one point or another" Michael said.

"I wouldn't be surprised" Claire sighed.

**It was a long way to fall, from the darling daughter of the mayor to some addict trying to please a kinky freak for protection.**

"You could be neutral," Claire blurted. 

"As if" Shane said.

"She wouldn't make it in a week" Eve said.

"Well I'm sorry if I felt a little sorry for her" Claire said.

**She felt oddly sympathetic, even after everything Monica had done. She had been born here, after all. Not like she'd ever had a real choice in what she was going to be, or do. **

"Such a good girl" Mum smiled.

Claire blushed and looked at anything other than her parents.

**"Some people are, right? They're left alone?"**

Monica sneered, and the second of two of humanity Claire had imagined she'd seen in that pretty face vanished. 

Michael shrived. "Im sorry but I just had a scary thought of Monica as a vampire".

"Thanks a lot Michael now I'm not going to be able to sleep for a week" Eve said.

"Same" Claire, Shane and oddly Oliver.

**"They're left alone until they're not. Look, officially, they're untouchable because they've done favours, big favours, and their Patrons let them out of contracts. By big favours, I mean the kind they were lucky to live through, get it?**

"Like the once that we have lived through" Claire said.

"Claire it is bad as it is that we have to read this but we really don't want to hear any more of it" claries dad winced.

"Sorry mum, dad" Claire said.

"**I'm not interested in that kind of hero crap."**

"Then she can go without then" Eve said. "I'm really not bothered".****

Claire shrugged. "Then go without a contract."

"Creepy" Shane said.

"I know" Eve and Claire nodded.****

"Yeah, right. That works. I'm really looking forward to a future as second assistant fry wrangler at the Dairy Queen, and decomposing in some ditch before I'm thirty."

Shane and Eve got dreamy looks on their faces as they heard that.

"I don't see why she is so bothered by that" Eve said.

"It suites her" Shane nodded.

**Monica rested her elbows on the table, coffee cup cradled in both hands. "I thought about leaving. I actually went to Austin for a semester, you know? But -it wasn't the same."**

"Why? No one to fall over you?" Shane said.

"Most likely" Claire said.****

"Meaning you flunked out of school."

"Oh and there is that" Claire said.

"I don't see why she bothers even going when it's not like she's going to get a really good job in this town" Eve said.****

That earned Claire a filthy look. "Shut up, bitch, I'm only here because I need to be, and you're only here because you have to be. Let's not get too touchy-feely."

"Trust me I have no plans on doing that" Claire said.****

Claire swallowed a mouthful of sweet, rich mocha. If it was poisoned, she'd die happy, at least. 

"That's always a plus if you are about to die" Myrnin said.

"You would know" Shane said under his breath.

"Yes I would Collin's" Myrnin said coldly.

**"Fine by me. Look, I can't help you get to Amelie. I don't even know how to get to her myself. And even if I did, I don't think she'd take your contract."**

"Amelie would have to be as mad as Myrnin to do that" Oliver said.

"Thank you Oliver" Amelie said not looking up from the book.****

"Then just shut up and smile. If I don't get anything else out of this wasted morning, at least Oliver can see that I tried."

"How long do I have to do this?"

"Anytime with her would be like living in hell" Shane said.

"Nicely put Collin's" Eve nodded.

"I aim to please" Shane joked.****

Monica checked her watch. "Ten minutes. Suck it up that long, and I won't call my brother about your boyfriend's little indiscretion."

"But how can you be sure that she want do it anyway?" Michael asked.

"Now that's just weird" Claire said making the others look at her confused.****

"How can I be sure?"

"Oh" Michael said.

"That is weird" Eve and Shane agreed.****

Monica slapped both hands to her cheeks and looked over-dramatically horrified.

"Which is hard to do when you live with Eve" Claire said as Eve hit her arm.

"Very funny Claire" Eve rolled her eyes.

**"Oh no! You don't trust me! I'm crushed." **

"I wish" Shane mutated.

**She dropped the act as suddenly as she'd taken it on. "I don't care if Shane has opened his own corpse taxi service, I only care about what I can get out of it."**

"Should have guessed" Michael said.****

"Maybe you want revenge," Claire said.

"She always wants revenge" Shane said.

"But if she was after revenge then she would have already told the police" Claire said.

"She could be still planning something" Michael said.****

Monica smiled. "If I'd wanted that, I'd have already turned him in. 

"Claire stop talking like Monica, its scary" Eve said.

"I'll try not to Eve" Claire said.

"**Besides, I hear its best served cold."**

"I prefer it hot but that's just me" Myrnin said.

"That's very interesting Myrnin" Claire rolled her eyes.

"I thought so" Myrnin said missing Claire's eye roll.****

Claire pulled out a book. "All right. Ten minutes. I need to study anyway."

"I don't see why you bother with those books Claire" Myrnin shook his head.

"Maybe because I need them for class" Claire said.

**Monica sat back and began a running, acidly accurate monologue on the outfits of the girls standing in line for coffee, which Claire tried earnestly not to find funny. **

"No Claire don't listen please don't" Eve said.

"I think were losing her" Shane said.

"I am sitting right here you know" Claire said.

**Which she was able to do, until Monica pointed out a girl wearing a truly horrible polka-dot-leggings-under-shorts ensemble.**

"It was pretty sad looking" Claire said.

"I can imagine" Eve winced thinking about it.

**"And somewhere in heaven, Versace sheds a single, perfect tear."**

Claire coughed to try to cover her smile but Myrnin saw and winked at her.****

Claire couldn't control a snort of laughter, and hated herself for it. 

"I think I will be sick if I say this but I'm going to any way" Eve said taking a deep breath. "That was pretty funny coming from her".

"I thought for a moment that you were going to yell or hit me" Claire said.

"Would I do that?" Eve asked innocently.

"Yes" Claire, Shane and Michael all said.

**Monica cocked an eyebrow.**

"What a scary look" Shane said.****

"See?" she said. "I'm so good I can even charm a hard-case like you. It's a waste of my talent, but I need to keep myself sharp." She finished her coffee, and picked up her little pink purse with the Teen People magazine sticking out of it.

"Great now I'm never going to be able to read that magazine without seeing her face" Eve said.

"You didn't read it in the first place" Claire pointed out.

"Maybe I was thinking about reading it but I cant now" Eve said.

**"Gotta fly, loser. Tell your boyfriend as far as I'm concerned, we're even. Well, okay, I'm a little bit more than even, and that's the way I like it. Consider this his restraining order: if I see him within fifty feet of me, I'll not only tell my brother about Shane's midnight adventure, I'll get some football types to pay his kneecaps a visit."**

Shane rolled his eyes. "That would be scarier if she hadn't already tried that one on me before".

"She really should try coming up with some new threats" Michael said.****

She walked out, hips swaying dangerously.

"They really are dangerous" Eve said. "She once pushed me in to a locker when she walked past".

"Like she needed to uses her hips" Shane said. "Her head would have done it from the other side of the school".

"And her mouth" Michael point out.

"Oh don't get me started on her mouth" Eve said and Claire nodded.

**People got out of her way, and they watched her go. Fear and attraction, in just about equal measure.**

"And annoys" Claire said.

"Don't be rude Claire" mum said. "I don't care what she has done to you, you should still be nice".

"Sorry" Claire sighed.****

Claire sighed. She supposed people always did like that sort of girl, and always would. And secretly? She envied Monica's confidence. Maybe just a little, traitorous bit.

"That's it Claire we are no longer best friends" Eve joked.

"However will I live with myself" Claire gasped.

"Very funny you two" Michael shook his head. "Now whose turn is it to read?"

"I think it's Claire's" Myrnin said passing Claire the book.

"Ok" Claire said opening the book and reading.

"**Chapter 10**" Claire read.

_**I'm really sorry about the wait. For the past few weeks I have been watching and reading anything to do with Doctor who and I have not really been writing anything other than that so I'm sorry about that. Also I'm sorry if there looked like a few things out of place because when I wrote this I did it at different times so I'm sorry if there was any confusion. I hope you liked it, please review :)**_

**C**


	10. Chapter 10

"That's it Claire, we are no longer best friends," Eve joked.

"However will I live with myself," Claire gasped.

"Very funny you two," Michael shook his head, "Now whose turn is it to read?"

"I think its Claire's," Myrnin said passing Claire the book.

"Ok," Claire said opening the book and reading.

"**Chapter 10,**" Claire read.

**The dead girl that Shane had taken to the church was Jeanne Jackson, a sophomore who'd gone missing from a sorority party two nights before. **

"That poor girls parents," Claire's mum shook her head sadly, "You send your child to school and expect them to be safe".

"Reminded you of anything, Claire," Eve said.

"Yeah, bring me into this," Claire shook her head.

**The papers said that she'd been raped and strangled, but nothing about suspects, and no cops showed up to interrogate Shane, much to Claire's relief. He'd done a dumbass thing, but she could understand his paranoia.**

"I'm not paranoid," Shane said.

"Maybe just a little bit," Eve said.

**In Morganville, he was one suspicion away from taking up residence in Jason's old cell, whether he'd actually done anything or not.**

That was, if the vampires didn't decide to hold their own brand of frontier justice.

"More likely," Shane glared at Amelie, Oliver, and Myrnin.

"Please don't start," Claire sighed, "I haven't even finished one page yet and you already trying to get into a fight".****

Captain Obvious's Fang Report had a much more detailed article on the killings, linking the other two that Claire knew about with this one, and speculating that instead of a vampire menace, they might be dealing with a human one this time.

"At least they can see that and are not blinded by their hate fore vampires," Myrnin said.

"They weren't keen on doing it," Claire said, "From what I read anyway".

**He didn't seem as enthusiastic about forming up vigilante parties for someone with a pulse, Claire noticed. Not that it mattered to the dead girls which type of monster had killed them.**

She got a note from Amelie giving her time off from working with Myrnin for the rest of the week, so she devoted herself to keeping up with classes. They were tougher than she was used to, which was kind of a relief. 

"And we all know how much Claire loves a challenge," Shane commented.

**She loved a good challenge, and the professors seemed to actually care whether or not their students had a clue. Myth and Legend wasn't what she'd expected, not at all; it wasn't Greek gods, or even Native American Trickster stories. No, it was about ... vampires. **

"I wasn't expecting that," Eve raised her eyebrows.

"Same," Michael and Shane nodded.

"Think of my surprise," Claire said.

**Comparative vampires, actually, examining the literature and folklore from earliest recorded history to the latest vampire-as-hero in pop culture. (Which, now that Claire thought about it, kind of was the modern-day version of myth and legend.) Oddly, for Morganville, the professor wasn't skipping the parts about vampire-killing methods**

"That is pretty odd," Shane said, "But handy".

"Shane, we don't say things like that when we are inside a room with three, very old, vampires," Eve said in a tone as if she was talking to a five year old.

"So?" Shane shrugged.

"I give up," Eve muttered.

**But Claire guessed that she was one of the few in the class who'd ever know the score about the town, anyway. The rest would bumble cluelessly through their one or two years, transfer out to bigger schools**

"Like I was supposed to," Claire said, "But I'm not ready to leave Morganville. Not yet anyway".

"I still think you're insane for not going," Shane shook his head.

**And never know they'd rubbed elbows at parties with real monsters.**

Oliver glared at her.****

She kept her mouth shut about anything that might get her in trouble, because the professor had a bracelet, too.

"Good idea," Eve nodded.

**She was trying to match up glyphs with vampires, and she thought he probably belonged to a female vamp named Susan, who seemed to be into finance.**

"I remember Susan," Myrnin said, "She never had any time for me like most but we did met".

"Nice story but it could do with more dragon's," Eve remarked making Myrnin stare at her completely confuse.

"Dragon's?" he repented.

"She was joking," Claire quickly said, "Don't listen to her".

**Susan owned a lot of property, anyway, and was some kind of bigwig at the Morganville Bank and Trust.**

"Yeah, she owns half of it," Claire said, "I found out a few weeks ago".

"Who owns the other half?" Claire's mother asked.

"Who do you think?" Shane said looking pointy at Amelie and Oliver.****

Claire began keeping notes in a special book

"Not to special I hope," Shane said thinking about another book.

"Don't worry, it's nothing like that," Claire said.

**About glyphs, vampires, who owned what. Not because she had any agenda, but just because it was interesting, and could be useful someday. **

"And because it was a challenge?" Myrnin asked.

"That to," Claire said.

**She supposed if she'd asked Amelie would have told her all about it, but it was more challenging to figure it out herself - and this way, Amelie couldn't be really sure how much Claire knew, which couldn't be a bad thing.**

"Looks like the cats out of the bag now, Claire," Eve said.

"I already knew, Mrs Rosser," Amelie admitted.

"I'm not even going to bother to ask how you found out," Claire shook her head.

**She's nice when it suits her. That doesn't mean she's nice.**

And on Friday, Eve left a note stuck to the bathroom mirror for Claire to find when she got up.

C.B. - Don't forget tonight is the party. Objective: look hotter than Monica and make everybody totally forget who threw the party in the first place. Outfit on back of door. Pay me back. - E.

"How much did that all coast anyway?" Shane asked.

"About seventy, seventy five," Claire shrugged, "I still have the outfit somewhere but I'm not going to put it on".****

The outfit was nothing Claire would ever, ever, ever have bought for herself. For one thing, the black leather skirt was ... short. Like, really short. There were some kind of patterned pantyhose, and a red sheer shirt with big red roses woven into the fabric in flocked material. And a black cami to go under it.

"Any pictures?" Myrnin asked earning odd looks from everyone, "I'm just asking".

"I don't think so," Claire said after a moment.****

There was another sticky note attached to the skirt. Shoes under the cabinet. Claire looked. They were thick clunky platforms, in her size, in shiny patent leather.

"I really hate heels," Claire muttered.****

She took it all back into her bedroom and put it down, backed off, and stared at it for a few seconds. I can't wear that. It's not me.

"That's the whole point," Eve rolled her eyes.

"Still," Claire said.****

Eve would totally mock her if she wore her blue jeans to the party. And she'd gone to a lot of trouble, because all of this stuff was Claire's size, not Eve's. Even the shoes.

And ... it really would burn Monica if Claire looked hot. (She'd never be hotter than Monica, that was a fantasy, but still.)

"There could be twenty Monica's and you would still be hotter," Shane said.

"Only twenty?" Claire asked in a teasing tone.

"I meant twenty thousand," Shane backtracked quickly.

"Only twenty thousand?" Claire asked before laughing at Shane's face, "I'm only teasing you".

**Imagining the expression on Monica's face, Claire slowly stroked her fingers down the soft leather of the skirt. No. I can't.**

"Yeah you can," Eve said.****

And then she imagined Shane's face when he saw her.

Well. Maybe she could, after all.

Claire's parents sighed and shook their heads.

"You have to admitted that you did look hot, Claire," Eve said.

"Hardly," Claire shook her head, "But I do admitted that it was fun to see Shane's face. Even Michaels".****

She hadn't gotten his expression quite right in her imagination, because the stunned, vacant expression on Shane's face when she started down the stairs was even better than fantasy. His mouth actually dropped open. 

"I wish I had that on video," Eve sighed, "It would have been so good".

**Next to him, Michael turned around, and although she hadn't counted on it, there was a warm fuzzy to making a hot golden-angel vampire blink and give her a quick, involuntary once-over.**

Claire stopped on the steps above them and did a tentative hip-shimmy. "Okay?" she asked. Shane's mouth shut with a snap and Michael actually cleared his throat.

Shane reached over and lightly punched Michael's shoulder, "Stop checking out my girlfriend, bro".

"You did it to mine," Michael shrugged.

"Hey, sitting right here," Eve pointed out.

"And me," Claire added.****

"Fine," Michael said.

"Fine?" That was Eve, coming down the stairs behind Claire. She moved around the roadblock and punched Michael in the arm. "She looks amazing. I'm not half gay and I think she's hot."

"Thanks, Eve," Claire said.

"Anytime, CB," Eve shrugged.****

Shane wasn't saying anything. Claire felt warm and a little dizzy, the way he was looking at her.

"I don't want to know," Claire's dad shook his head.

**She resisted the urge to check to see if her skirt was straight - she'd done it a dozen times already -and forced herself to meet his gaze and smile.**

"Which was harder than you would think," Claire remarked.****

"You sure this is smart?" Shane asked, which was not what she'd expected, not at all. "You look fantastic."

"Thanks - "

"I never did get to finish saying thanks," Claire said.****

He interrupted her. "Fantastic in this town pops you to the top of the take-out menu."

"Way to be so cheerful, Shane," Eve rolled her eyes.

"Just telling the truth," Shane shrugged.****

She held up her left hand and pointed to her wrist. The gold bracelet was clearly visible. "I'll be okay," she said. "The vamps won't bother me."

"Much," Shane said.****

"Not even talking about the vamps. You're going to be drawing every guy there who's looking to get off."

"Spoil sport," Eve muttered.

"He was sort of right," Claire grimaced, "I lost count of how many times I was groped".

"Claire!" Claire's parents gasped but Claire read over the top of them.****

Eve rolled her eyes. "Oh, God, Shane, buzzkill? She looks great, and you don't have to get all jealous and overprotective about it! She'll be with us; we'll all look out for her. And you've got to admit, girlfriend looks good all cleaned up. I did her hair, too. Smokin', right?" The hair, Claire felt, was just almost over the top. It was mostly gel and sprays and stuff, but it did have that carefully tousled look that models always seemed to wear.

"You should wear your hair like that more often," Eve said.

"Where to?" Claire asked, "The lab? School? It's too much effort for every day".

"It still looked hot," Eve shrugged.****

Eve wasn't exactly wallflower quality tonight, either; she was wearing a dramatic black floor-sweeping dress that left her pale arms bare, plunged a neckline halfway to China, And had a slit in the side that went all the way to her hip. Fishnet hose, even. It was outrageously sexy, and if Michael had noticed Claire's transformation, he was completely focused on Eve now.

Eve winked at him and spun around to show him the back. Of which there wasn't any. It was just her skin, and a crimson rose tattoo at the small of her back.

"I never asked but when did you get that?" Claire asked.

"When I was seventeen," Eve said, "Fake ID. Not that I really needed one".****

"Man," Shane said. "That's just - yeah."

"I didn't think I have ever seen Shane speechless," Eve smirked.

"Neither," Michael nodded.

"You weren't exactly Mr Chatty either," Shane shrugged.****

It wasn't until she'd gotten past their reactions - which were pretty fun - that Claire realized that Eve must have done a number on the boys, too ... because they looked amazingly fine. Michael was wearing black pants and a black leather coat, and a dark blue silk shirt. It made him just ... blaze, like white gold against velvet.

"Who said that you need a tan to be hot?" Eve said, "I prefer my man pale".

"Um, I guess I'll take that as a complement," Michael said looking a little unsure.

"I would," Eve said.****

Shane looked good enough to drag back to her room. 

"Don't," Claire held her hand up, not looking up from the book, "I don't want to hear it".

"I love these books," Eve said, "They show a different side to you, Claire".

"Thanks," Claire sighed.

**Eve must have forced him to get the worst of his shag evened up, which brought out his strong cheekbones and chin. He was wearing black, too, with a cream-pale knit shirt. Claire had never seen him in a jacket. She decided he needed to never take it off. Not ever.**

"Please don't hurt me," Shane said, "I didn't mean to take it off".

"Shut up," Claire blushed.****

Michael shook his head and offered Eve his arm. She took it, smiling with her red, red lips, and winked at Claire. Claire winked back, suddenly feeling very wicked, and slid her arm through Shane's.

Claire blushed and ignored the looks she was given.****

"I can't believe we're doing this," Shane said.

This was going to be fun.

"Not too much fun I hope," Claire's dad frowned.

"Don't worry," Claire said before saying under her breath, "Not yet at least".****

Claire hadn't forgotten the address, even though she'd given away the invitation, and Michael knew Morganville like the back of - Eve's back, the way he kept looking at her exposed skin, especially the tattoo. 

"You just had to notice that," Michael muttered as Eve blushed under her makeup.

"You didn't exactly try to hide it," Claire shrugged.

**And besides, if you were within a couple of blocks of the party, you couldn't possibly miss it. Between the glow of the lights and the low-pitched rumble of the music, there was no sleeping through it if you lived nearby.**

"I feel sorry for the people around the house," Claire's dad shook his head.****

Michael cruised around the block, looking for parking, and finally located a narrow few feet of curb. As he pulled in, he said, "Ground rules. We don't split up. Eve and Claire, you two especially. It's not just because of the vampires, it's because of Jason. Got it?"

"We would have to be stupid not to," Eve said.****

They nodded.

"Besides," Shane said, and playfully tugged at Claire's overgelled hair, 

"Not a word, Myrnin," Claire said as Myrnin looked as if he was about to say something.

**"I want to see Monica's face when she catches sight of the two of you. Kodak moment."**

Eve fumbled in her tiny little coffin-shaped purse and held up a brand new cell phone, with camera. "I'm ready."

"I don't think any of us were ready for that night," Michael said.****

"Me too," Claire said, and pulled out the fancy phone that Amelie had given her. She felt a blast of shame as Shane glanced at it, but controlled it. She couldn't be ashamed all the time, and besides, it wasn't so bad, right? What she was doing? It wasn't any worse than having a day job. Just ... different.

"Yeah, just a job that you didn't get paid for," Shane rolled his eyes.

"But I do now and learning all the stuff I did made up for it," Claire said trying to ignore the smug look on Myrnin's face and the glare that Shane sent him.****

"Be careful what you eat and drink," Michael continued. "Monica's party is probably roofie heaven. I can smell what they put in the drinks, you guys can't. And if you get into any trouble, step back, let me handle it". 

"Collins won't like this," Olive said.

"Shut up," Shane glared at him.

"Don't start," Claire and Eve sighed in unison.

"**If you're going to have a freak vamp friend, you might as well get your money's worth out of it."**

"Already do," Eve said.

"Thanks," Michael smiled at her.****

Shane didn't answer, but Claire could see there was some smart-ass remark burning a hole in his tongue. She was glad he didn't let it loose. It was nice to feel like four friends again, instead of four people all about to spin apart in different directions.

"I hated that feeling," Claire remarked before going back to reading.****

"Anything else, Dad?" Eve asked. Michael kissed her, very lightly, sparing her lipstick.

"Yeah," he said. "You look good enough to eat. Promise me you'll remember that."

"Cheerful much?" Shane shook his head.

"Of course," Michael said. ****

Claire was caught between a smile and a shiver, and saw that Eve was, too.

"I went with smile," Eve said.

"Same," Claire nodded.****

The Morrell home looked like Tara from Gone With The Wind, post Sherman's march. Claire watched, blinking, as a mob of drunken frat boys stumbled down the walk, roaring something she couldn't make out, carrying a couch.

"You don't want to know what they were cheering," Michael said, "You all ready saw too much for your young's eyes let alone ears".

"I'm grateful you didn't say anything than," Claire said.****

Which they deposited in the giant European-style fountain in front of the house. Apparently they were relocating most of the living room out there. Some partiers were already sitting in chairs, soaking in the fountain's spray, and now three or four of them piled giggling onto the wet couch.

"Now this," Shane said with respect, "is out of bounds. I like it."

"We should get a fountain just so we can do that," Shane said.

"As much as I would love to see the next door's face," Eve said, "I don't think it would be a good idea. Even for us".

"Shame," Shane shook his head.****

It was totally out of control. The four of them stood together by Michael's shiny vampire-tinted car, watching in admiration. The house was blazing with lights, there were lit tiki torches tilting drunkenly all over the lawn, and partiers were everywhere. Making out under the trees, in full glare of the security lights. Doing shots on the big, white-columned front steps. A girl ran by dressed in half a bikini. The top half.

"Oh, dear," Claire's mum gasped.

"Typical," Eve said. ****

"Damn," Michael said. "Monica does know how to throw it."

"Just another reason to hate her," Eve said.****

No kidding. Claire watched as a big bobtail truck inched its way through a knot of people toward the back of the house. It had the logo of BOB'S FINE LIQUORS. Apparently, Monica had called in liquid reinforcements already, and the night was young.

"I don't think it was Monica who had called," Michael said.

"I wish I had seen her face when she got the bill," Shane smiled.****

"Well?" Eve said. "Are we standing out here all night? Because I'm ready to knock somebody dead."

"Not really I hope," Myrnin said.

"Don't worry she was joking," Claire said.****

The four of them strolled up the walkway, keeping an eye out for frat boys and wandering furniture. 

"Anything was possible at the party," Claire shook her head.

"I know, right?" Eve said.

**They went as a group up the front steps, where about ten people were playing some complicated game that involved drinking shots, spray cans of fluorescent paint, and giggling hysterically. **

"I don't want to know," Claire's dad pinched the bridge of his nose.

**Even the drunkest turned to look at the four of them and whistle.**

"They would have turned and whistled if a bird fly past," Shane shook his head, "Drunk and high. Not a good mix".****

The frat boys, the drunks in the fountain and the even drunkers on the porch were all wearing standard college casual dress, mostly shorts and t-shirts. "Um," Claire said, "Maybe we should have come a little less formal."

"There is not a chance that I wasn't going to go to that party dressed in my normal clothes," Eve said.

"You can hardly call them normal," Shane said.

"Bit me, Collins".****

"No way," Eve replied. "If you're going, go big."

"Remind me to play poker with you later," Michael said. "I love a girl who'll go all in."

She hip-bumped him. "That's what you want to do with me later? Dude. Respect the dress, at least."

"I remember this bit," Shane said, "I was nearly sick".

"You loved it," Eve said.

"I really didn't," Shane shook his head.****

Michael trailed his pale fingers down her back, following the line of her spine, all the way to the red rose.

"You should leave that to the bedroom, Michael," Shane shook his head.

"Yeah," Claire nodded, "I mean it was sweet but still".

**Eve shivered, and her eyes went half-closed. Whatever Michael whispered in her ear, Claire thought it was probably way too personal to hear.**

"No comment," Eve smirked at Michael.

"I wasn't planning to ask," Claire shook her head, "Something's are best not knowing".

"To bad that never stopped you in the past," Oliver glared at her.****

Not that she could have, because right then the front door banged open and the noise flowed out in a syrup-thick wave. Pounding techno and yelled conversations. Two people stumbled out of the door, arms around each other. Claire blinked and recognized two of the gamers that she'd given Monica's invitation to that afternoon on campus.

"They're enjoying them self's," Myrnin remarked.

"A little too much," Claire agreed.****

"Frakkin' awesome party!" one of them screamed, and fell flat on his face.

"Smooth," Shane laughed.

"Why didn't you say anything when we were there?" Claire asked.

"I was a little busy trying to look after you and Eve," Shane shrugged.****

"Apparently." Eve stepped over him and swept into the party, with Michael right behind her. Claire started to follow, but Shane's grip on her arm had tightened, and he was holding her back.

"What?" she asked, and turned to face him. God, he looked amazing. He needed to let Eve dress him all the time.

"It was pretty fun," Eve said, "Maybe I should".

"No way," Shane shook his head.

"Please?" Eve said, "Pretty please?"

"No," Shane said.****

"Before we go in," he said, and bent and kissed her. Claire distantly heard the whistles and catcalls of the shot drinkers - distantly, because the kiss was sweet and hot and wild, and there was something crazy in it that made her just quiver inside.

"Don't say anything," Claire muttered at the look on her parent's faces.****

He pulled away way too soon. "Stay with me," he said, with his lips near her ear, and she nodded. Like I'd let you out of my sight.

Claire blushed but didn't stop reading.

"Nice cover up, Claire," Eve shook her head.****

And then they followed Michael and Eve into the party of the century.

"It really was insane," Michael said.****

It was the second big party of Claire's life - not counting birthday parties and things where there were as many chaperones as kids.

"That's wild," Eve rolled her eyes.

**The first one, the Dead Girls' Dance thrown by the EEK fraternity, hadn't exactly come out well, what with Shane's dad going on a rampage through the place looking for vampires to stake. This one looked, if possible, even crazier.**

"At least no one ended up being staked," Eve said, "Only...yeah".

"Only what?" Claire's mum frowned.

"You'll find out soon," Claire sighed.****

She was grateful to be with her friends. If she'd stepped into this by herself, she couldn't imagine how scary it would be. The main hall was wide and tall, but it was jam packed with people talking, dancing, kissing, groping - it was like the hottest dance club with all the lights up full.

"A little to whale lit," Claire said.

"I know what you mean," Eve nodded.

**Claire brushed up against a couple who were - what were they doing? She looked away before she could be sure, but the guy's hand was in places that she couldn't imagine a porn actress allowing in public.**

"I really, really, don't want to know," Claire's parents shook their heads.

"You really don't," Claire nodded.****

Michael and Eve pushed through the crowd into the next room, and Claire and Shane followed, staying close. There were a few people in the big living area who were dressed fancy, but most had on standard-issue college wear, and somehow, Claire had the distinct impression the casual-dress crowd had not come invited.

"Some would still have gate crashed," Michael said.****

Monica was standing at the top of the stairs, arms folded, looking right at them.

"Someone's not happy," Myrnin said.****

"Oooh, that is a Kodak moment," Eve said, and held up her cell phone to snap a photo of Monica's scowl. "Yep. We're good."

"I love that photo," Eve smiled dreamily.

"Same," Shane nodded.****

She high-fived Shane, who seemed to be expecting it. Monica cleared the annoyance out of her expression with an effort, and started down the steps. She was dressed in a pink, clinging sheath dress with huge lime-outlined flowers climbing the fabric, and her shoes were prissy-perfect in matching pink. Very fancy.

"I was thinking more vomit worthy," Eve corrected.****

"Claire, you brought strays," Monica said. "How nice." And then she looked strangely sorry. "Michael, I didn't mean you. You're always welcome."

"I thought she must have been high when she first said that," Shane shook his head.

"Same," Eve nodded.****

He raised his pale eyebrows. "I am?"

"Of course."

Claire elbowed him. "Because you're a VIP. Vampire Important Person."

"Obviously," Eve said.****

Two more of the gamers Claire had gifted with the invitation stumbled by; one grabbed Claire's arm and planted a sloppy wet kiss on her cheek. 

"Lovely," Eve commented.

"Yeah," Claire rolled her head.

**"We passed out copies," he said, and giggled.**

"He's drunk to," Shane shook his head.

**"Hope that was okay. Great party!"**

Shane sighed and moved him off with one hand on his shoulder. "Yeah, yeah, whatever. Naked Vulcan chick in the next room. Better hurry."

"That's one way to sober someone up," Myrnin commented sounding slightly amused.****

The gamers sobered up fast, and moved on. Monica's glossy, perfect lips were open, her eyes wide.

"You?" she said. "You did this? These idiots made flyers! They put them all over campus! This was supposed to be the best people!"

"And like I said," Eve said, "We're there".

"I don't think she had us in mind," Claire said.

"Well, she is an idiot," Shane shrugged.****

"Don't worry," Eve said sweetly. "We're here." She smiled, which in that lipstick was Wicked-Witch-of-the-West evil. 

"Where do you think I got the idea from?" Eve smirked.

**"Air kiss!" She mwahed the air somewhere near Monica's cheek. "Lovely party. Shame about the furniture. Ta!" She sashayed on, Michael on her arm, as if she was the Queen of Everything, never mind Morganville. Claire got out her camera and got a picture of the murderous fury on Monica's face as she watched her go.**

"Best picture ever," Eve said.****

"You treacherous little bitch!" Monica snarled.

"Cool it," Eve said.

"This is Monica," Michael said.****

Claire lowered the phone and met her eyes for a long second. She wasn't scared, not anymore. "You got your friends to roofie me and told them I wanted it rough. All I did was recycle your invitation. Let's call it even."

"She's not going to like that," Myrnin said.

"She really didn't," Claire nodded.****

"Let's call it not!"

Shane leaned forward, dropped his voice so that Monica had to work to hear it, and said, "Calm down. You get blotchy when you're angry. And if you call my girlfriend a bitch one more time, I won't be so nice about it."

"Not that I'm nice to her anyway," Shane said.****

Monica's eyes were fierce and fiery, but she didn't move, and after a second she turned and ran up the steps to the second floor, where her formal-dressed friends were huddled together like the cast of Survivor: Abercrombie Island.

"It's funny how I was thinking the same thing," Eve said.****

"Score one for the little guys," Shane said. He stared at a bunch of guys wearing football shirts rumbled past, carrying a bed. Claire blinked. Yes, that was a bed. 

"I don't want to know," Michael shook his head.

"Neither," Eve nodded.

**"Okay, I don't really think I want to know. So. Drinks?"**

"Hello, underage," Eve said.

"You did the same thing," Claire shrugged, "Half the people there were underage anyway. Not that I had anything but water".****

In the kitchen, a group was making punch in a trash can. Claire hoped it was a new trash can, but as blitzed as the guys were who were pouring stuff in, she really couldn't be sure of that.

"Not that I was planning on drinking any of it," Claire said.

"I should hope not," Myrnin shook his head.

"Says the man who drinks out of a plastic bag," Shane glared at Myrnin.

"Don't start," Claire sighed and went back to reading.****

"I'd avoid that," Shane said, mouth close to her ear. "See anybody you know?"

She wasn't sure. There was barely room to move in here, with people crowding up to the counters, and streaming in and out with red plastic cups in their hands ...

A shock zipped down her spine. "Yeah," she said. "I see somebody."

"I don't like the sound of that," Claire's dad frowned.****

How the hell had Eve's brother gotten into the party? He was standing in a corner, slouching and sneering. Lank hair dripped toward his shoulders, and he wore the same filthy dangerous-boy clothes that he'd had on when he'd threatened Claire at the U.C. 

"Someone doesn't get out much," Shane said.

"I think the problem is that he does get out to much," Claire corrected.

**He had a drink, but he wasn't drunk; there was too much hot contempt in his eyes as he surveyed the crowd. Crazy eyes. Oh God, that's how they look, those guys who shoot up rooms full of people.**

Claire's parent's paled.

"Don't worry," Claire said to them, "He didn't do that".****

His eyes locked with Claire's, and he gave her a bent smile. Claire anxiously looked at Eve, but her back was to her brother and she was talking to Michael, she clearly hadn't seen the potential trouble at all.

"If I had then I would have told you guys," Eve said.****

"What?" Shane asked.

Claire turned back and pointed.

Jason was gone.

"Creepy," Eve shrived.

"It really was," Claire nodded.****

Shane shook his head when she told him, and moved away to talk to Michael. Michael nodded, then handed Eve off to Shane. Claire saw his lips move. Watch her.

"I didn't know that you would read lips," Eve said.

"I can't but that was really clear," Claire shrugged.****

And then Michael angled off through the crowd.

So much for staying together.

"It was bound the happen," Myrnin said.****

Shane draped his arms over both of their shoulders and said, "Now this is the life. Want to get a room, girls?"

"What about me?" Michael asked in mock hurt.

"You got old, bro," Shane shrugged.****

Eve rolled her thickly mascaraed eyes. "Like you'd know what to do with one of us, never mind two."

"She has a point," Michael joked.

"Hey, you're supposed to be on my side!" Shane exclaimed.

"Just joking," Michael held his hands up.

**Where's he going?"**

"Bathroom," Shane said blandly. "Even vamps gotta pee."

"Don't ask," Claire shook her head at the looks on her parents, "It would probably the last thing you ever asked".

"Good advice," Eve said.****

Which, for all Claire knew, might be true, but she was sure that wasn't why Michael had cut out on them. Shane steered them up to the counter and snagged a sealed bottled water for Claire and two sealed beers, which he opened himself. Not taking any chances

"Good," Claire's parents said.

**Claire thought, and cracked the top on the bottle to take several gulps of the cool, sweet water. She hadn't realized how hot it was until then, but she could feel sweat sticking her flocked mesh shirt to her exposed skin.**

"Another reason why I hat frat parties," Claire said.

"People don't go because of the temperature inside," Eve shrugged.****

Somebody grabbed her ass. Claire yelped and jumped, turned and saw a drunk-off-his-butt frat boy leaning in next to her. 

"Just want we wanted," Eve shook her head.

**"Oh baby, me like!" he yelled in her ear. "You, me, outside, okay?" He did a drunken pantomime of what he was thinking of doing outside, and she felt a hot roll of embarrassed, shame.**

"I don't want to know," Claire's parent shook their heads.

"You really don't," Claire shook her head, a ting of pink in her cheeks.****

"Get lost," she said, and shoved him off. His buddies tossed him back toward her, and this time, he crashed into her off balance and pushed her up against the bar.

"He had better not do anything," Claire's father frowned as Myrnin nodded.

"Great," Claire muttered to Eve.

**He took advantage of it, too, hands all over her, hips grinding her right into the counter.**

"Does no one learn to respect woman in this day and age?" Myrnin shook his head in disgust.

"Not when there drunk not," Claire shook her head and sent her dad a worried look at how quite he was.****

Shane grabbed him by the collar of his TPU golf shirt, spun him around, and punched him right in the face.

"He would have a lot worse if I had been there," Claire's father glared at the book as Myrnin nodded.

"I competently agree," Myrnin nodded.

"I'm really starting to regret reading these books," Claire sighed. ****

Great, Claire thought in shaken disgust. That's always the answer around here. Punch somebody. Then again, she didn't think reasoned discourse was going to be big tonight.

"Not with all the drinking and people getting high," Eve shook her head.****

And of course, the guy's friends piled on. 

"Such a far fight," Myrnin commented.

**Eve grabbed Claire's hand and pulled her out of the way; a tight circle formed around the combat, with people whooping and clapping. "We have to stop him!" Claire yelled. Eve patted her on the shoulder.**

"This is Shane's idea of a good time," she said. "Trust me. You do not want to try to stop him right now. Let him do his thing. He'll be fine."

"Blood nose of two," Shane shrugged, "I've had worse".

"I still don't like it," Claire shook her head.****

Claire hated it. 

"I really do," Claire agreed with herself.

"You know that doing that it's sort of like talking to yourself, right?" Michael said.

"I've spent too much time around Myrnin," Claire shook her head.

**She hated seeing Shane get hit, and she didn't much like the way his eyes lit up when he was knee-deep in conflict, either. Stupid to be upset by it, she guessed, considering this was part of why she was so attracted to Shane in the first place - the way he would unhesitatingly throw himself into things, especially when it came to protecting others.**

"Someone has to," Shane shrugged.

"Doesn't mean I have to like it," Claire said.****

Eve was practically reading her mind.

"More like your face," Eve corrected, "You looked a little sick".

**"Let him be who he is," she said. "I know it's hard, because in general, guys are clueless and you just want to fix it, but just - let him be. You don't want him trying to change you, right?"**

"Right," Claire nodded.****

Right. She didn't, although he was changing her, whether he knew it or not. 

"I didn't change you," Shane shook his head, his voices took on a bitter edge, "Morganville did that, not me".

**Not in bad ways, she thought. Just ... change. A year ago she'd have been paralysed with terror at the idea of coming to a party like this, and even more terrified to imagine being groped by a stranger like that.**

"Not that I enjoyed it," Claire said quickly at the look her Parent sent her.

"Keep telling yourself that, Claire," Eve joked.****

Now, she was mostly just annoyed, and felt like she needed a shower.

Eve whirled. "Hey! I know my ass is fine, but look, don't touch!" 

"Look?" Michael raised his eyebrows.

"You have to give a little, Michael," Eve shrugged.

**An eruption of drunken laughter. She took Claire's hand. "We need a wall behind us. Less chance of getting the stealth feel-up."**

"Good idea," Shane said and Myrnin nodded slightly.****

"But - " She gave up as somebody else patted her rear. "Yeah. Okay."

That put them half a room away from Shane, who was now somehow at the center of a knot of maybe ten guys, all whaling away at each other (mostly without connecting, they were all too drunk to really do damage). 

"Idiots," Shane shook his head, "They couldn't even punch straight".

**Claire leaned gratefully against the wall and sipped water. Somehow, she'd ended up holding Shane's beer, and with a quick sideways glance at Eve, she took a sip of that, too.**

"Claire!" Claire's parents said sternly.

"Sorry but if it makes you feel better I didn't like it," Claire said but they still frowned at her.

**Ugh. Nasty.**

"Acquired taste," Eve said, laughing at her expression. 

"You looked like you had just taken a bit out of a lemon when you thought it was something else," Eve laughed.

"Why to make me feel better," Claire shook her head.

"I hope this makes you learn not to drink," Claire's mother said.

"Trust me it did," Claire nodded.

**"Shane buys like a college boy. If it's cheap and the ad has a girl in a bikini, it must be great."**

"Why am I not surprised?" Myrnin rolled his eyes.****

"That's disgusting," Claire said, and took another long drink of water to wash her tongue clean. Even the water tasted bitter, after that.

"Lovely," Shane said, "I love bitter water".

"I'm sure you do," Michael shook his head.****

"Well, in fairness, beer is mostly about the buzz, not the taste," Eve said. "You want taste and buzz, you get something like rum and coke, or White Russians." 

"You do know how old Claire is in this book, right?" Michael shook his head at the look that Claire's parents were giving Eve.

"I'm used to talking about it with you guys," Eve shrugged a little sheepish.

**She seemed to remember, suddenly, how old Claire was. "Not that I'm going to let you have any of that, by the way. We promised your parents." **

"Yes you did," Claire's dad frowned.

"Sorry sir," Eve said.

**She managed to look almost righteous when she said it, and she took Shane's beer out of Claire's hand. "I'll keep this." Eve raised her normally soft voice to a parade-ground bellow. "Yo, Shane! Quit screwing around or I'm drinking this!"**

"You could have said it differently," Shane shook his head, "You just had to make them laugh at me".

"Yep," Eve said.****

A ripple of laughter through the room. The fight was mostly over, anyway, and Shane shoved away the last stumbling frat boy who'd tried to take a swing at him, wiped blood from his mouth with the back of his hand,

Myrnin went to open his mouth but Claire coved it, "Not a word, Myrnin".

Myrnin nodded and Claire moved her hand away as Shane glared at him.

**And left the field of battle. He looked rumpled and flushed and a little bit savage, and Claire felt something in her just growl in response.**

Eve, Michael, Shane, and even Myrnin took one look at Claire and bust into a fit of laughter.

"Nice Claire," Eve giggled as Claire blushed.

"Shut up, please," Claire muttered.

"Perhaps it was a good idea that we read these books," Oliver said.

"Thanks Oliver," Claire said trying to read.****

She stared at him, wide-eyed. I'm not ready for this.

"I'm very glad you realised that," Claire's Father said as Michael, Eve, Shane, and Myrnin tried not to laugh.

"Please don't talk about this," Claire muttered as she went back to reading, still bright red.****

Parts of her clearly were.

"Not a word," Claire begged as she blushed, bright red and coved her face with the book, "Not. A. Word".****

"Have a drink, Galahad," Eve said, and handed him his bottle. They clinked glass. "Our hero. Here. Fix your hair." She picked at it with her black-manicured nails, twitching it this way and that, until it had that glamour-boy carefully careless look again. "God, you're hot. Get felt up yet?"

"Couple of times," he said, and smiled at Claire. "Don't hurt them. They just couldn't help themselves."

"I'll try not to," Claire smiled.

"Where's the fun in that?" Shane joked.****

Eve snorted and looked around. "Where's Michael?"

"Good question," Myrnin said.****

"Probably a line at the bathroom," Shane shrugged, which was probably true, but Claire didn't think that was the reason. Shane did that thing where he looked at Eve too long, and didn't blink. She thought she could tell when he was lying, and that definitely was a flashing neon sign. 

"I really need to work on my lying skills," Shane said.

"So, do I," Claire shook her head.

**"Ladies? Let's wander."**

It wasn't so much wander as wriggle, like salmon heading upstream. What Claire could see of the house was amazing - fine art on the walls, gorgeous old furniture (mostly being splashed with drinks or shoved against the walls to make room for dancing),

Claire's mother grimaced and winced slightly.

"Mum wouldn't even let me have a birthday party until I was ten because she was worried about the furniture," Claire said quietly to Michael, Shane, and Eve.

**Big, expensive Turkish rugs (Claire hoped they were dry cleanable),**

"I doubt it," Myrnin said, "But it had been a while senses I dry cleaned anything".

"Yeah, you make me do that," Claire rolled her eyes.

**And huge plasma TVs that were all playing the same music channel, blasting at ear-piercing volume. Nine Inch Nails' "Closer" was on now, and despite her best intentions Claire found herself moving to the rhythm. Eve was dancing too, and then they were dancing together, which should have seemed weird but didn't, really. **

"It is a party," Eve shrugged.

**Shane formed the third point on their triangle, but Claire could see that he wasn't really giving in to the festive atmosphere; he was scanning the crowd, looking for trouble. Or Michael.**

Somebody tried to pass her something - a shot glass with a hit of something clear.

"Don't you dare," Claire's dad shook his head.

"I might do some pretty stupid things but even I wouldn't take that," Claire said.

"You did take those crystals from Myrnin," Eve pointed out.

"Yeah, that helps," Claire shook her head.

**She shook her head and passed it right back. Not that she wasn't tempted, but after what had almost happened to her at the last party, she wasn't going to be stupid.**

"See?" Claire said.

"You shouldn't have been tempted at all," Claire's mum frowned.

"I just can't win," Claire's said under her breath so her parents wouldn't hear.****

Well, not any stupider than she already was to come here in the first place.

The drinks and drugs kept coming. Liquid E, poppers, shots, even something that she was almost sure was a crack pipe. Morganville liked its drugs, but she guessed that made sense. There was a hell of a lot to escape from around here.

"Perhaps I should look into that issue," Amelie said.

"I don't see the point," Oliver shook his head sounding board. ****

She kept on dancing. Shane and Eve didn't take anything either - not that Claire saw, anyway. 

"Party rule number one: never take something from anyone," Shane said.

"That is supernally good advice," Myrnin commented.

"What would you know about a party?" Eve asked.

"I have you know that I was quite a party person when I was younger," Myrnin said.

"Sadly it is true," Amelie said dryly.

**Shane was looking less into the party and more worried all the time.**

Michael didn't come back. Two songs later - two long songs - Eve finally got Shane to look for him, and the three of them moved out through the bottom floor, checking out the rooms (all packed) and not finding Michael anywhere.

"You would think that it would be easy to find someone like Michael in the crowed," Eve shook her head, "No one else at the part was hot enough".

Michael blushed as much as a vampire can, "Thanks Eve".

"Anytime," Eve smiled at him.

**In the hall bathroom a line of people was waiting for the toilet, but no sign of a tall, blond vampire.**

When they went up the big, sweeping steps toward the second floor, Claire couldn't help but think about Rhett Butler carrying Scarlett. 

"Oh, that's my favourite movie," Claire's mum smiled.

"I know," Claire shook her head, "You always put it on at Charismas and your birthday".

**Her mom loved that movie. She'd always thought it was boring, but that scene stayed with her, and she could almost see it in this house.**

"I have to admit that it was a pretty nice house," Shane admitted.

**But instead of Scarlett, Monica Morrell was still standing at the top of the steps, surrounded by her protective circle of toadies. Gina and Jennifer were back, each wearing a dress that was plainer than what Monica had on, but in complementary colours. Her very own backup group. There were a couple of other girls in the crowd, but mostly it was guys - good looking, polished types. The entitled of Morganville, and every one of them was wearing a bracelet.**

"Of course they were," Eve rolled her eyes.****

"Well," Monica said. "Look whose coming up in the world." Her crowd laughed. Monica's eyes were vicious. If she'd been sort of human when they'd been alone in the coffee shop, she'd gotten over it.

"And you're surprised?" Eve raised her eyebrows.

"Not really I was just disappointed I guess," Claire shrugged.

"You always try to see the best in people," Myrnin said.

**"Scrubs stay downstairs. We're going to have to have the place gutted and rebuilt anyway, after this."**

"I bet mummy and daddy will be extremely happy about that," Shane said.

"Monica would just blame someone else," Michael shook his head.****

"Yeah, I'll bet Daddy's going to be furious when he gets home," Eve said. "I meant to ask, is that dress vintage? Because I could swear I saw it on my mother once." 

"Best comeback ever," Shane smiled, as he tried not to laugh.

"I have to agree with you there," Claire nodded as she laughed.

**She swept up, heading straight for one of Monica's big strong linebacker types; he looked confused, and edged out of her way. Shane and Claire followed. Monica was dangerously silent, probably realizing that any comeback she could try would sound cheap.**

"Did I ever tell you how much I love you?" Michael asked Eve as he tried not to laugh.

"Once or twice," Eve smiled, kissing him on his cheek.****

"We're going to have trouble getting out of here," Shane said. It was quieter upstairs, although the continuing clamour downstairs throbbed through the floor and walls. The hallway was deserted, and all the doors were closed.

"You should always lock the upstairs bedrooms," Myrnin said, "Makes for less surprise should you open a door".

"We'll keep that in mind," Claire said, "But I don't think were likely to have a party here".

**It was lined with expensive portraits and framed formal photographs of the Morrell family. Not surprisingly, Monica took a lovely picture. Claire had never seen Mrs. Mayor, but there she was in the family photos - a wispy, half-ethereal woman always looking somewhere other than her family. **

"It must be hard to live in a house like that," Claire's mother said, "Money does not make you happy".

**Unhappy, somehow. Richard Morrell seemed grounded and adapted to this town, and of course so did the Mayor; Monica might not be stable, but she was definitely Morganville material.**

Her mom, maybe not so much.

"Wonder where her parents are?" Claire said aloud.

"I was wondering that," Claire's dad nodded.

"They get to go out of town sometimes," Claire explained, "Her dad being the Mayor and all".****

"Out of town," Eve said. "So I heard, anyway. Bet they'll just love getting back to find somebody did an Extreme Home Makeover, Crackhead Edition."

"But there always the best," Shane joked, "Vomit included".

"Charming," Claire shook her head.

**She tested the doorknob of the first room on the left. Locked. Shane tried the one on the right, opened it, and leaned in. He leaned out again, eyebrows arched.**

"I don't think I want to know," Michael said.****

"Well, that's new," he said. Claire tried to lean past him to look. 

"I didn't think you where the type, Claire," Myrnin remarked making Claire blush bright red.

"Very funny, Myrnin," she muttered.

**He put his big hand over her eyes. "Trust me, you're not old enough. I'm not old enough." He carefully shut the door. "Moving on."**

"I'm still not old enough," Shane shook his head.**  
**

**Claire opened the next room, and for a second she couldn't figure out what she was seeing. **

"Please tell me it's not someone having sex," Myrnin said, "I think we have all heard enough for one night".

"I couldn't agree with you more," Claire nodded.

**Once she did, she couldn't speak. She backed up and touched Shane wordlessly on the shoulder and pointed.**

There were three guys in the room, and a girl on the bed, and she was passed out. They were taking off her pantyhose.

"Oh, my..." Claire's mother trailed off looking sick.****

"Shit," Shane said, and moved Claire back. "Eve, call the cops. Now. Time to shut this crap down before somebody gets really hurt."

"Someone already did," Claire sighed, "****

Eve got out her cell phone and dialled, and Shane went into the room and closed the door. He came back after about a minute with the unconscious girl in his arms. "Anybody know who she is?"

"Come to think of it we never did find out who she was," Eve said, "We took her back to school but we never asked what her name was".

"I doubt that they would have told us anyway," Shane shrugged.****

Claire shook her head. "What about those guys?"

"They're sorry," Shane said. 

"Good," Michael said, "I would hate for them to go out and do that to another girl".

**"Eve? You recognize her?"**

"It is a pretty big school," Eve said.****

"Um ... maybe. I think I've seen her around the U.C. - couldn't swear to a name or anything. But she's definitely gown,(?) not town. No bracelet."

"Or a tan line around her wrist from taking it off," Claire said, "I'm used to looking for things like that when I met someone new".****

"Yeah, I figured." Shane adjusted her to a more comfortable angle in his arms. The girl - petite, brunette, pretty - snuggled into his embrace with a sleepy moan. 

"Poor thing," Claire's mum said.

"She was alright," Claire said, "We got her help".

**"Damn it. I can't just leave her."**

"What about Michael? We need to find him!"

"Yeah, I know. Look, I'll carry her. Check the other rooms."

Claire was having trouble controlling her breathing. She'd almost been that girl, not so long ago. Only she'd been a little more alert, a little more able to take care of herself ...

"Living in Glass House does that to you," Eve said.

"Yeah," Claire nodded.****

Get it together, she told herself, and opened the next door. She gasped and covered her mouth with both hands, because there was a vampire in the room, and he was bending over a girl lying limp on the floor.

"Oh my God," Claire's mother gasped.

"Get out of there sweetie," Claire's dad said.

"You do relies that I'm right here?" Claire said, "Sitting here. Fine".

"Yes but still," Claire's mother shook her head.****

He looked up, and she saw the hard gleam of fangs before his face came into focus, and became shockingly familiar.

"Let me guess," Myrnin said, "Michael".****

Michael.

"Told you," Myrnin said.

"No one said you didn't," Claire shook her head at him.****

There were two raw holes in the girl's neck, and her open, dry eyes had gone gray. Her skin was the colour of old wet paper, more blue than white.

"Poor dear," Claire's mother said sadly.****

"Oh," Claire whispered, and stumbled backward out of the room. "Oh no, no, no - "

"I was completely shocked," Claire said, "I mean I didn't believe it but at the same time I did".

"It's alright," Michael shrugged, "I'm not surprised by they why you guys reacted".****

Michael shot to his feet. "Claire, wait! I didn't - "

Eve was in the doorway now, and Shane. Eve took one look at the dead girl, one at Michael, and turned and ran. 

"Sorry," Eve said.

"I get it," Michael shook his head.

**Shane just stood there, staring at him, then said quietly, "Claire. Go after her. Now. The two of you, stay together. I'll come find you."**

"If you can with all those people," Claire's mum sighed.

"Don't worry mum," Claire said, "It was alright".****

Michael took a step toward them. "Shane, I know you're looking for reasons to hate me, but you know I wouldn't - "

Shane backed up, fast, keeping distance between them. His eyes had gone very dark, his face flushed and set with anger. "Claire," he said again. "Get the hell away from him. Now."

"Why am I not surprised?" Oliver rolled his eyes.****

"Shit!" Michael looked furious, but he also looked scared and hurt. "You know me, Shane. You know I wouldn't do this. Think!"

"He's right," Shane sighed, "I do know him and I should never have said that".

"I get it man," Michael shook his head, "Don't worry about it".****

"You come near me or the girls, I will kill you," Shane said flatly, and then turned and yelled at Claire, full volume. "Go!"

"Don't you shout at our daughter," Claire's dad glared at Shane.

"Sorry sir," Shane said.****

She backed out of the room and ran after Eve. Her heavy platform shoes felt awkward, and her cool outfit was nothing but a cheap dress-up costume. She wasn't cool. She wasn't sexy. 

Shane lent over to Claire but Claire pushed him back, putting a hand over his mouth before he could say something that could embarrass them both.

"Don't forget about the super hearing in here," Claire remained him.

"Oh, right," Shane scratched the back of his head.

**She was a stupid jerk to be here, and now Michael ... God, he couldn't have, could he? But there was a flush to his skin, like he'd fed ...**

"Earlier yes but not then," Michael shook his head, "I have never feed on a person before and I never want to".

"You wouldn't be Michael if you did," Eve said fondly.****

Eve was heading down a set of back stairs. Claire caught sight of the sweep of her long black dress around the spiral. She followed as fast as she dared, with the treacherous shoes.

"Stupid heels," Claire muttered.

**As she neared ground level, the volume of the party swelled and broke into a roar.**

"I didn't even notice," Eve remarked.****

When she got to the bottom of the steps, there was no sign of Eve anywhere. It was a sea of moving, swaying bodies, a drunken orgy of dancing (and maybe, in the corners, just an orgy), 

"I wouldn't be surprised," Shane shook his head.

**But she didn't see anybody in formal wear.**

"That does give Eve away," Michael said, "Her clothes".

"Thanks, Michael," Eve smiled at him.****

"Eve!" She yelled, but even she couldn't hear it. She looked back up the stairs but she didn't see Shane, either.

"Great now you're alone," Myrnin shook his head.

"Creepy," Claire said getting odd looks.****

She was alone.

"You're right about creepy," Shane nodded getting a glare from Myrnin.****

When she craned her neck, she caught a flash of black velvet heading out of a door, and threw herself into the crowd to follow. If drunks groped her along the way by she barely noticed; she wanted out of here, badly, and she couldn't let anything happen to Eve. Her dignity was the least of her worries.

"Same," Eve agreed as Claire's parents frowned.****

A hand slipped under her skirt. 

Shane, Myrnin, and Claire's parents glared at the book.

"And humans call vampires animals," Myrnin shook his head in disgusted.

**She turned, instinctively furious, and slapped the guy, hard. Didn't even register his face, or anything about him. He held up his hands in surrender, and she turned and plunged on.**

The next room was nearly empty for some reason that Claire didn't understand, until she saw (and smelled) some guy throwing up in the corner. 

Everyone grimaced.

"Just another reason not to got another frat party," Claire said as the others nodded.

**She hurried faster. Was that Eve she was following? She couldn't be sure. It looked like her, but the glimpses were too short, the angles all wrong. Claire had to move quicker.**

"If I had known that you were following me I would have slowed down," Eve sighed.

"I understand," Claire shook her head.****

She wasn't sure how it happened, but she ended up in the vast, gleaming kitchen. A bunch of burly guys were carrying in boxes of liquor. Claire pushed past two frat guys who were high-fiving each other. "Liquid panty remover's here!" one of them yelled, and there was a cheer in the other room.

"Idiots," Eve rolled her eyes.****

Claire made it outside and gulped the cool, clear night air. She was shaking, sweating, and she felt utterly filthy, inside and out. 

"I'm never going to another party like that again," Claire shook her head.

"Good," her parents said.

**That was fun? Yeah, she supposed if she was drinking and didn't care, it'd be fun, but then again, this was Morganville. Fun like that, you could end up passed out on a bed with strangers ... or in a morgue drawer.**

"Lovely thoughts, Claire," Myrnin remarked.

"They went supposed to be," Claire said.****

Eve was leaning against a tree in the glare of a security light, gasping for breath. She looked glamorous, like some lost Hollywood starlet from the days of black and white, except for the red blaze of her lipstick.

"I'll take that as a complement," Eve smiled but it wasn't as bright as it could have been. ****

"Oh God," she moaned, and as Claire came toward her she realized she was crying. "Oh God, he's done it, he's really done it - "

"We don't know that," Claire heard herself say. "Maybe he just found her. Was trying to help her."

"Thanks Claire," Michael smiled at her.

"Vampire or not I know that you wouldn't hurt us," Claire said.****

Eve glared at her. "He's a vampire! There's a dead girl with holes in her neck! I'm not stupid!"

Michael winced slightly as Eve grimaced.****

"I can't believe he'd do it," Claire said. "Come on, Eve, do you? Really? You know him. Is he a killer? Especially when he doesn't have to be?"

"Always trying to see the best in people," Claire's mum smiled at her.

"Thanks mum," Claire said, blushing slightly.****

Eve shook her head, but that wasn't really an answer. She was shaking off the question.

"Sorry, Michael," Eve said.

"Its fine," Michael shook his head, "Really, Eve".

"I should have never questioned it," Eve shook her head.

"I understand," Michael said, putting an arm around Eve.****

Shane came out of the kitchen door with the brunette still held in his arms. "Let's go."

"We came in Michael's car," Eve said numbly. "He's got the keys. I could - "

"That's not going to happen," Michael said.****

"No. Nobody goes up there, and you guys stay the hell away from Michael until we know what's going on." Shane thought for a second, then pulled in a breath. "We walk."

"Because walking in Morganville at night is a great idea," Eve shook her head.

"What else where we going to do?" Shane said, "Fly? I would like to see you try".****

"Walk!" Claire and Eve both blurted. Eve improved it by squeaking, "Are you freaking mental?"

"Yep," Shane said.****

"Claire's got Protection, and I'm in the mood to beat the hell out of the first vamp to look at me sideways, and it's safer than getting the three -" He glanced down at the nameless girl in his arms. " -four of us in the car with Michael right now. I want room to run if I have to. And fight."

"You where half hoping to come across someone, weren't you?" Claire frowned.

"Maybe," Shane said not looking at her.****

"Shane - "

"We walk," he interrupted. "University first, we can drop this one off with the campus cops."

"Good idea," Claire's father nodded.****

Claire cleared her throat. "Can't we wait for the police here?"

"Not a good idea," Myrnin shook his head.

"How would you know?" Claire asked.

Myrnin didn't answer just gave her a pointed look.****

"Trust me, no," Eve said. "They're going to roust everybody that isn't tagged, and that includes me and Shane. And once they find a drained dead girl, it'll be a free-for-all. We can't take the chance. We need to go. Now."

"I wish you could have been there, Michael," Claire sighed, "We would have felt a lot safer with you having our backs".

"I didn't think it was such a good idea," Michael said, "Not after...everything".****

Claire was half-hoping that Michael would show up, but he didn't come out after them. She wondered why. She wondered where he'd been, while they'd been searching the house for him.

Shane started walking toward the street, with the drugged girl murmuring and giggling in his arms. 

"Poor thing," Claire's mother said sadly.

"She was alright after we got her some help," Claire said.

**He'd saved one victim, but lost another. And he was taking that second part very personally.**

"Wouldn't you?" Shane shook his head.****

Claire looked at Eve, put her arm around her, and hurried the both of them after Shane.

It was a quiet walk to the university campus. They didn't see anybody. The few cars that passed didn't stop, and although they heard sirens converging on the party, none of the police cars cruised their way.

"Probably to busy dealing with the party," Claire's father said.****

The night was just cool enough to be pleasant, and the air felt dry and crisp. No clouds. It would have been pretty and romantic, except for the general crappiness of the evening.

"Romantic?" Shane looked at Claire as if he had never seen her before, "Not exactly my thoughts".

"It wouldn't be," Eve said, "You're a boy. You wouldn't know something romantic if it danced naked in front of you".

"Nicely said, Eve," Claire said, rolling her eyes at her choice of words.

**Eve had stopped crying, but that was almost worse; she'd been so happy before, and now she'd sunk into a gloom so deep she really did seem like a true Goth.**

"Great night," Michael shook his head.****

Claire's feet hurt. She was glad when they turned the corner and caught sight of the big, well-lit campus behind the wrought-iron fencing. They'd have to go to one of the four entrances to get through. She'd never really thought about it before, but the place looked unnatural, like a wildlife park.

"I thought It looked like a zoo," Shane remarked.****

Or a zoo.

"Creepy," Eve said.

"Great minds think alike," Shane said.

"I hope you're not talking about yourself," Myrnin said.

"Not again," Claire sighed as they glared at each other.****

Shane was getting tired, and put the girl down on the first bench they came to once they were inside the fence, while Eve flagged down a passing campus cop car. The Q&A went pretty well, but then, the campus cops weren't especially sharp. 

"I why do I have the feeling that was the point," Claire asked giving the vampires a pointed look.

"We have no idea what you mean, Claire," Myrnin said innocently.

**It took about half an hour, and then the girl was whisked off to the clinic for detox and checkups, and the three of them looked at each other in the glow of the cop car's headlights as it backed up and pulled away.**

"Right," Shane said. "Probably ought to get moving."

"In the dark to," Michael said, "Fun for you guys".****

Eve got out her phone.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

"Calling a cab."

"Good luck with that," Michael said, "There no chance of you getting a cab after dark".

"We realised," Eve sighed.****

He snorted. "In Morganville? At night? Right. Eddie doesn't even like picking people up during the daytime. No way is he risking his ass out here for us at night. He probably took his phone off the hook, anyway. He hates frat parties."

"What about those police men?" Claire's mother asked.

"Weird," Eve said as Claire and Shane nodded.****

"What about Detective Hess?" Claire offered. "I'm sure he'd give us a ride."

"I bet they were sent to investigate the party," Shane said.

"I wouldn't be surprised," Claire shrugged.****

"Light it up."

"You make it sound like a smoke," Claire commented.****

Claire tried. The number rang, but nobody picked up. Same thing with Travis Lowe. She looked at Shane with a sinking feeling, and shrugged helplessly. Eve stood up, shivered, and crossed her bare arms for warmth. 

"I really should have dressed in warmer clothes," Eve said before shaking her head, "What am I saying? I would have worn the dress no matter how cold it was".

**Shane took his black jacket off and draped it around her shoulders.**

"I thought that Collins wasn't allowed to ever take his jacket off," Myrnin smirked at Claire making her blush.

"Shut up, Myrnin," Claire muttered.****

"Guess we're on foot," he said, and took Claire's hand, then Eve's. "Don't slow down, and don't stop for anything. If I tell you guys run, you run. Got it?"

"We would have to be stupid not to," Eve said.

"Just making sure," Shane shrugged.****

He didn't give them a chance to argue.

"Not that I was planning to," Claire held a hand up at the looks Shane, Michael, and Eve sent her.

"Right," Michael said.

**They walked down the path to the exit from the university grounds. Outside, the street lights were few and far between, and Claire could just feel eyes on her in the shadows. **

"It was worse than when we were at the party," Claire said, "At least there most of the people where too drunk to know someone from another person. Or high for that matter".

"I know the feeling," Eve agreed.

**Whether that was real or not, she didn't know, but it made her shake all over with fear. Come on, Claire, get it together. There are three of us, and Shane can kick enough asses for all of us.**

"And I can't?" Eve raised her eyebrows.

"I didn't mean it like that," Claire shook her head, "I just meant...never mind".

"I'm only joking, Claire," Eve laughed.****

They crossed the street and headed over a couple of blocks, then down. It was the straightest shot to the house, and the best lit, but it also was going to take them right by Common Grounds. 

"Fun, fun, fun," Shane rolled his eyes.

**Somehow, Claire felt even more uncomfortable at the idea that Oliver was going to see them trailing by, in all their not-too-smart glory. They'd had a rough enough night without that.**

Although, it was a cheering thought that Monica almost certainly was having a worse one, trying to explain to the cops about why there were more drugs in her house than the Rite-Aid Pharmacy, not to mention the underage drunken orgies and the dead girl in the bedroom.

"I would pay to see Monica explain that," Eve said in a dreamy voice.

"I would give my right arm to," Shane added.

"Don't start," Claire said, "We really don't need the two of you fighting over who would give the most up".****

By contrast, walking home at dark in Vampire U.S.A. seemed a little bit mild.

"I never thought of it like that at the time," Eve said sounding thoughtful.****

At least until Eve whispered, "Somebody's following."

"Now I remember why I didn't think of it like that," Eve said.

"Same," Shane said.****

Claire almost faltered, but kept walking when Shane's hand tightened around hers. "Who?" he asked. Eve didn't turn her head.

"Don't know, I just caught a glimpse. Somebody in dark clothes."

"So, it looks like it could be pretty much anyone," Michael said.****

Since only Amelie seemed to like colours in the pale winter hues, Claire figured that didn't narrow it down much. 

"The same thing that Michael said," Eve commented.

**She walked faster, tripped over a crack in the sidewalk and nearly went down, if it hadn't been for Shane's steadying grip.**

"I really need to work on my leg work," Claire shook her head.

"Yeah," Shane nodded, "You really do".

**But it slowed them all down, and they couldn't afford for it to happen again.**

"You could always carry, Claire," Myrnin said.

Shane went to open his mouth but Claire read before he could say anything.****

"Crap," Shane breathed. They were still at least a block from the next burning streetlight, and now Claire could hear slow, steady footsteps behind them.

"If it was a vampire then they would have already attacked," Myrnin said.

"That makes us all feel so much better," Shane rolled his eyes.

"Stop it you two," Claire sighed and went back to reading.

**Up ahead, a single open storefront spilled warm yellow light out onto the street. Common Grounds. Neutral territory, at least theoretically. "Right. We're not going to make it all the way home. We go into Common Grounds, and - "**

"Eve's not going to like this," Michael said.

"Yep," Eve nodded, "Believe me I wasn't happy".****

"No way, I'm not going in there!" Eve blurted. "I can't!"

"See?" Eve said.****

"Yes you can, you have to. Neutral ground. Nobody will hurt you there. We can make some kind of deal with Oliver if we have to, temporary protection or something. Promise me - "

"I don't like how that sentences just stopped," Claire's dad said.****

Shane didn't have time for anything else, because all hell broke loose. 

"Oh no," Claire's parents shook their heads.

**The footsteps behind them suddenly accelerated to a run, Shane swung around and pushed the two girls behind him, and there was a flash of movement Claire couldn't really see. Something hit Shane in the head. Hard. He stumbled and went down to one knee.**

"Somehow I don't think Shane's going to ask for marriage," Eve said trying to lighten the mood.

"You think?" Shane rolled his eyes.****

Claire screamed and reached for him, but Eve grabbed her and hauled her by force toward the glow of Common Grounds.

"Get up!"

Claire twisted out of Eve's grip and whirled to see that the yell had come from the jerk from the party, the one who'd felt her up and then gotten his ass kicked by Shane. 

"Out seeking revenge," Myrnin commented.

**He'd followed them, and he had a baseball bat. He'd hit Shane in the head with a baseball bat and he was getting ready to do it again.**

"Just brilliant," Michael said.

"You don't say," Shane shook his head.****

"No!" Claire cried, and lunged back toward them, but Eve grabbed her tight and swung her around toward the coffee shop again.

"Good idea," Myrnin said much to everyone's surprise.

"Um, thanks," Eve blinked.****

"Get inside!" she screamed.

"Yes please do," Claire's father and mother nodded.****

"Let go - "

"Do you have to argue about everything?" Shane sighed, shaking his head.

Claire pretended to think about it a moment, "Yes".****

They stopped fighting each other as a shadow stepped out of the alley right in front of them, blocking the way.

Claire's parents groaned.****

A long silver line glinted in the starlight. A knife.

Claire's parents paled worse than before.****

It was Eve's brother Jason, looking as greasy and starved and fevered as he had at the party.

"Someone could use a shower," Eve sighed sadly, "And a rehab".

"You could say that again," Michael said.****

"Hey, sis," he said, and the knife turned, and turned, and turned.

"I bet he got that off a movie," Shane said.

"It was still scary," Claire shrived.

**"I knew you'd be coming this way. Soon as I heard you left the party without your bloodsucking bodyguard, I knew the time was right."**

"Bodyguard?" Michael shook his head.

Eve whispered something in his ear, to quite for human ears but they had a good idea of what it was at the disgusted looks on the vampire faces around the room.****

"Jason - " Eve let go of Claire and stepped in between the two of them. "This isn't her problem. Let her go."

Claire was torn - watch Jason, who was terrifying

"I really hope that he never knows that you thought that, Claire," Eve said, "He would never let it go".

**Or pay attention to what was happening behind her, because Shane was fighting now, fighting for his life, and he was already hurt. She risked a glance back and saw Shane grab the baseball bat from his attacker, hit a home run to the guy's shoulder, and send him spinning into the brick wall. **

"That's got to hurt," Michael remarked as he high fived Shane.

"Ye bet, bro," Shane said.

**The frat guy went down, screaming, but Shane was clearly not doing well either - he lurched, off balance, and went down to his hands and knees. The bat rolled away.**

"Oh God," Claire whispered. There was blood running down his face, dripping in a wet thread to the pavement. 

"Shame," Myrnin remarked.

"Yeah because that's what we were all worried about," Claire rolled her eyes, "Shane losing blood for you to snack on".

"Of course," Myrnin smiled, sounding a little too serious.

**"Shane!"**

Shane shook his head and the blood flew in a spray to splatter the concrete around him.

**He looked up, saw her, and blinked.**

Then he saw Eve, and behind her, with the knife, Jason.

"Brilliant," Michael shook his head.****

Shane fumbled for the bat, found it, and climbed to his feet. He stumbled forward, grabbed Claire and pushed her behind him, then yanked Eve away from Jason as well. He set his feet wide apart and took up a batting stance.

"Did I ever say that I was on the school team?" Shane asked.

"Not when you where hurt you weren't," Claire sighed.****

He looked pale and shaken and half-dead, but Claire knew he wasn't backing down.

"Leave them alone," he said. Not a yell, not a threat, just a low, quiet voice with absolute control. "Walk away, Jason."

"Not a hope in hell is he going to do what you say," Michael shook his head.

"It was worth a try," Shane shrugged.

**Jason lost his smile. He put the knife in his pocket and held up his hands. "Sure. Sorry, man. Don't go all Sammy Sosa on me." He lowered his hands again and stuffed them in his coat pockets, looking casual, but there was an avid glitter to his eyes, and a cruel twist to his thin lips. **

"Lovely," Shane commuted.

**"I heard you found a present in your basement. Something girl-shaped."**

"Best present ever," Eve grimaced.****

Eve groaned, and Claire reached out to steady her when she swayed. "Jason," Eve whispered, and she looked awful, like she was going to throw up. 

"I nearly did," Eve admitted.

"I'm glad you didn't," Michael said.

**"Oh God, why?"**

Shane took a step forward, bat raised and ready, and Jason backed up again. "Doing it there, that was just fun," he said. "But it's not about the girls. It's so I get noticed."

"What is he talking about?" Claire's dad asked.

"You really don't want to know," Claire sighed.****

"Noticed?" Claire echoed faintly.

"Yeah, so they see I'm capable. Ready to be one of them."

"Idiot," Eve sighed.****

"Oh God, Jase, is that what this is about? You're just some pathetic wannabe vampire making his bones?" Eve sounded so freaked it made Claire's guts knot up. "You're trying to impress them? By killing?"

"Sure," Jason shrugged. He looked thin and weedy, almost lost inside that black leather jacket. 

"Only you could think about what he was dressed in, Claire," Eve shook her head, fondly.

"I am a girl," Claire shrugged.

**"How else do you get attention around here? And I'm going to get lots of attention. Starting with you, Claire."**

Myrnin, Shane, Claire's parents, Eve, and Michael glared at the book in Claire's hands.

"Hey, Guys could you maybe turn down the glairs?" Claire asked looking over the top of the book, "I think the book is about to start smoking".****

Shane yelled - it wasn't even words, just a yell of pure fury - and swung at him.

"Oh, dear," Claire's Mum muttered.****

There was a sharp, loud sound, and the smell of something burning, and Claire stared stupidly at the wisp of smoke rising from Jason's coat pocket.

"What?" Claire's parents frowned.

"One of the worst nights of my life," Claire shook her head and blinked tears back before going on with the book.****

There was a hole in the leather.

"It's not what I think it is it?" Claire's dad asked closing his eyes.

"Wait and see, dad," Claire sighed.****

It wasn't until the bat hit the pavement with a noisy rattle, and Shane collapsed to his knees, that she realized that there was a gun, and Jason had fired it.

And Shane had just been shot.

Claire's parents gasped and both paled, glancing over at Claire as they realised how close Claire could have been to being shot.

"I'm fine, mum, dad," Claire rolled her eyes, "Shane was the one who was shot not me".****

Shane didn't seem to understand it either. 

"Well, it's not like I have ever been shot before," Shane shrugged.

**He was panting, trying to say something, but he couldn't get the words out. His eyes were wide and confused.**

"It happened so fast," Shane said.****

Jason turned and walked away, hands still in his pockets. People were coming out Common Grounds, looking puzzled and alarmed, and at the forefront was Oliver. Oliver's head turned quickly, and he focused on them.

"Vampire," Myrnin shook his head, "Must I say this every chapter?"

"No but you do anyway," Claire shrugged.****

Claire dropped to her knees next to Shane. He looked desperately into her face, and slowly collapsed to his side.

Claire's parents winced, so did Eve, Michael, Claire, and Shane.

Claire's voices started to crack as she read.****

His hands were clutching his stomach, and there was so much blood ...

Claire cleared her throat and counted in a hope that she wouldn't start crying. ****

Eve hadn't moved. She was just - standing there, in her lovely black dress, staring blindly after her brother.

"I couldn't believe that he could do that in...in front of us," Eve shook her head.

"I wasn't," Shane said darkly.****

Oliver grabbed her and shook her.

Michael's eyes flashed red but other than that he didn't show any sign of what he felt.

"Olive, next time try to talk to me," Eve said as she took Michaels hand.

**Her black hair flew wildly, and when he let go, Eve sank down to a defeated slump against the building's brick wall. Oliver shook his head impatiently and turned to Claire, and Shane.**

"Here we go," Shane mutated.****

Claire looked up, mute with misery, and saw Oliver staring down at them.

"Great," Shane and Myrnin said in unison before glaring at each other.

"Would the two of you try to get along?" Claire asked.

"Never," Myrnin said as Shane said, "Not a chance".

"I give up," Claire said.****

For just a second, she thought she saw something in him. Maybe just a tiny glimmer of empathy.

"I thought I was the one who was supposed to imagine things," Shane commented.****

"Someone is calling the ambulance," he said. "You should put pressure on the wound. He's losing a lot of blood. It's a waste." The blood, he meant. Not Shane.

"Help me," Claire said. Oliver shook his head. "Help me!"

"I don't want a vampire helping me when I'm bleeding everywhere let alone in the same alley," Shane shook his head, "Unless it was Michael".

"Thanks bro," Michael said.****

"You'll find that vampires aren't particularly good with the wounded," he said. "I'm doing you a favour by staying away. And don't try to order me, little girl".

"I'm not a kid, Oliver," Claire frowned at him.

"Yes you are," Oliver said sounding bored.

"Why do I bother trying to argue about my age?" Claire sighed before going back to reading.

"**That gold bracelet of yours means almost nothing to me except that I shouldn't leave witnesses behind."**

"I didn't know that you cared so much, Oliver," Claire rolled her eyes.****

Shane coughed, wet and hard, and blood trickled out of his mouth. He looked as pale as Michael. Vampire-pale.

"Never, never ever say that again, Claire," Shane shrived.

"I am sorry to say that I agree with Collins," Myrnin nodded.

"You'll get over it," Claire said.****

Claire cradled him in her arms.

"Way to make me sound madly," Shane joked.

"Nothing could make you sound manly, Shane," Michael joked, avoiding Shane punching his shoulder good naturally, "You also might want to work on your aim".

"Stupid vampire reflexes," Shane mutated

**Oliver glanced at Eve, frowned, and went away.**

Michael, Eve, and Shane raised there eyebrows but didn't say anything.

**People were coming closer, murmuring, asking questions, but Claire couldn't make any sense out of it. She pressed down on the wet bloody mess of Shane's shirt, felt him tense and try to squirm away, and didn't let him. Pressure on the wound. It seemed to take forever until she heard the distant sound of sirens approaching.**

"It's always the way when someone you care for is hurt," Eve nodded.****

Shane was still breathing when they loaded him inside the ambulance, but he wasn't moving, and he wasn't talking.

"Oh, dear," Claire's Mum shook her head, "But you're alright now?"

"Yes, ma'am," Shane smiled at her, "You can hardly see the scare anymore".

****

Claire went to Eve, got her on her feet, and put an arm around her shoulders. "Come on," she said. "We should ride with Shane." 

"Not that I can really remember you two being there," Shane said.

"It's the thought that counts," Claire shrugged before going on with reading.****

Oliver was staring at the wet, dark smears of blood on the concrete, and as Claire helped Eve up into the back of the ambulance, he looked at one of his coffee shop employees and nodded toward the mess.

"Please tell me that he's not going to get them to put my blood in a cup or something," Shane grimaced.

Oliver rolled his eyes and somehow managed to still glare at Shane, "I am not an animal, Collins. I have no interested in _your _blood".

"Isn't that a big comfort?" Eve joked and whistled innocently when Oliver glared at her.****

"Clean it up," he said. "Use bleach. I don't want to smell it all night."

"I wouldn't either," Myrnin added a little too brightly.

"Good because..." Shane started but stopped at the look Claire sent him, "Right, shutting up now".

"Whose turn is it now?" Claire asked holding up the book.

"Me," Eve said taking the book from Claire and opening it, "**Chapter 11**".

_**I feel so bad for not updating months ago but I lost interested in Morganville (I never thought it would happen) but after I read Bitter blood I had so many ideas and I just had to finish this story so I can move on to the next. Also you may have noticed that as I was away I worked on my grammar so I hope it was easier to read. So, so, sorry again for not updating sooner, tell me what you thought, please review :) **_

_**Quick question: did any one else love page 143 in Bitter Blood?**_


	11. Chapter 11

"I wouldn't either," Myrnin added a little too brightly.

"Good because..." Shane started but stopped at the look Claire sent him, "Right, shutting up now".

"Whose turn is it now?" Claire asked holding up the book.

"Me," Eve said taking the book from Claire and opening it, "**Chapter 11**".

**Shane survived the trip, and they rushed him right into surgery. **

"At least I now get to find out what happened when I was in the hospital," Shane remarked.

"I'm not sure you're going to want to," Claire sighed.

**Eve sat silent in her black velvet dress, looking more Goth than ever, and wildly out of place in the soothing neutral waiting room. **

"No surprise there," Shane remarked earning a smack on the back of the head from Eve.

**Claire kept getting up and washing her hands, because she kept finding more of Shane's blood on her clothes and skin.**

"That's normal, dear," Claire's mum said.

"It was horrible," Claire shrived.****

Eve was crying quietly, almost hopelessly. For some reason Claire didn't cry at all. Not at all. She wasn't even sure she could. Did that make her sick? Screwed up?

"You're just in shock," Claire's dad said.

**She wasn't sure who she could ask. She couldn't seem to feel anything right now except a vague sense of dread.**

"I know the feeling," Eve nodded, "But I showed it differently".

"Yeah," Claire said.****

Richard Morrell came to take their statements. It was simple enough, and Claire had no hesitation in turning in Jason for the shooting.

"I didn't either," Eve nodded.

**"And he confessed," Claire added. "To killing those girls."**

"Confessed how?" Richard asked. He sat down in the chair across from her in the lounge area, and Claire thought he looked tired.

"I would too if I had his job," Michael remarked.

"Why anyone would want to be a police officer in this town, I will never know," Shane shook his head.

"People have to get money somehow, Shane," Eve rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, but they could work somewhere else," Shane argued.

"Sorry Shane, it doesn't work like that," Claire said.

**Older, too. She guessed it wasn't easy being the semi-sane one in the family. **

"I forgot about that," Shane said.

"I feel sorry for anyone who's related to Monica," Eve said.

**"What exactly did he tell you?"**

"That he left one for us," she said, and glanced at Eve, who hadn't said a word. Hadn't, as far as Claire could tell, actually blinked. 

"Now that's what you call shock," Michael said.

**"He called them presents."**

"Not the type you would want, though," Claire shrived.

"Funny you should mention getting a human for a present," Myrnin said, "I once..." but he trailed off at the warning looks from Amelie and Oliver.

"Myrnin!" Oliver snapped, "Shut up!"

Eve exchanged looks with Shane, Claire, and Michael before reading.****

"Did he mention any of them by name?"

"No," she whispered. She felt very, very tired all of a sudden, as if she could sleep for a week. Cold, too. She was shivering. Richard noticed, got up, and came back with a big gray fleece blanket that he tucked around her. He'd brought a second one for Eve

"What a gentlemen," Claire's mum smiled.

**Who was still wrapped Shane's black coat.**

"Nice and warm," Eve smiled.

**"Is it possible that Jason just said that because he knew about the bodies being found near your house?" Richard asked. "Did he talk about anything more specific that wasn't in the papers?"**

"Yep," Michael said.

"I doubt Claire will say anything," Myrnin said, surprising everyone, "She would to afraid that Collins would be arrested".

"Okay, that's creepy," Claire muttered, shaking her head.****

Claire almost said yes to that, but she stopped in time. The police didn't know about the girl being found in their basement. They thought she'd been taken to the church by her killer.

She had no choice. She just shook her head.

"I see what you mean by creepy," Eve nodded.

"Told you," Myrnin said happily.

"We know, Myrnin," Claire said.****

"It's possible Jason's all talk, then," Richard said. "We've been watching him. We haven't seen anything to prove that he's got any involvement with these dead girls." He hesitated, then said, very gently, "Look. I don't want to make this about Shane, but he did have a bat, right?"

"Oh, I see were this is going," Claire's dad frowned, "I thought it might".****

Eve raised her head, very slowly. "What?"

"Shane had a bat."

"He took it from another guy," Claire said, nearly tripping over the words in her hurry to get them out. 

"You'll only make things worse if you panic," Michael said.

"I wish you had been there at the time," Claire sighed, "It would have helped. A lot".

**"A guy from Monica's party. Shane got jumped, he was just defending himself! And he was trying to get Jason to back off - "**

"We have witnesses who say that Shane swung the bat at Jason after Jason had put away his knife."

Claire couldn't find the words. She just sat there, lips parted, staring into Richard's weary, hard eyes.

"So that's it," Eve said. Her voice started out soft, but hardened quickly. "It's all going to be Shane's fault, because he's Shane. Never mind that some frat ass tried to knock his head off, or that Jason shot him. It's still Shane's fault!" She stood up, stripped away the blanket, and threw it at him. Richard grabbed it before it hit his face, but just barely. "Here, you'll need it for your cover-up!" She stalked away, slender and pale as a lily in all that black.

"Wow, that was a speech and a half," Shane remarked, looking slightly impressed.

"I can make a speech when I want," Eve shrugged.****

"Eve - " Richard sighed. "Dammit. Look, Claire, I have to have the facts, okay? And the facts are that during the confrontation, Jason put his knife away, Shane had a bat, and Shane threatened him. Then Jason fired the gun. Is that right?"

"I hate to say it, but it did happen like that," Michael sighed.

"It was self defences!" Shane exclaimed.

"I didn't say it wasn't," Michael****

She didn't answer. She sat for a few seconds, just staring at him, and then stood up, stripped off the blanket, and handed it to him.

"You're going to need a bigger cover-up," she said. "See if there's a circus in town. Maybe you can borrow a tent."

"Nice come back," Eve shot her a smile and high fived her.****

She walked down the hall to see if Shane was out of surgery.

He wasn't.

"Wishful thinking," Claire sighed.****

Eve was pacing the hallway, stiff with rage, hands clenched into fists barely visible as knots in the too-long sleeves of the coat. "Those sons of bitches," she said. "Those bastards! They're going to put Shane down, I can feel it."

"Put him down?" Claire repeated. "What do you mean, put him down? Like, a dog?"

Eve glared at her. Her eyes were rimmed with red, and wet with tears. "I mean even if he makes it through the surgery, they're not going to let him get out of this. Richard practically told us, don't you get it? It's the perfect frame. Shane took the swing, Jason fired in self-defense, and nobody's even going to look at Jason for these murders. They'll just bury it, like they bury the bodies."

She stopped talking, and her eyes refocused over Claire's shoulder. Claire turned.

"Let me guess, Michael," Shane said.

"Yeah," Claire nodded.****

Michael was striding toward them, lean and powerful and tall, and he headed straight for Eve. No hesitation, as if nothing had happened. As if they hadn't seen him bending over a dead girl at the party.

"It's not as if I was the one to kill her," Michael pointed out.

"We know," Eve said, patting him on his arm, "We're so stupid".

"Not stupid just mislead," Michael corrected.****

He stopped just inches away from Eve, and held out his hands.

"I went looking for you guys. I finally tracked you to Common Grounds. How is he?" he asked. His voice was hoarse.

"That tends to happen when someone shouts," Oliver said.

"You never told us that you got in a fight with Oliver," Eve frowned at Michael.

"He wouldn't tell me what happened," Michael shrugged.****

"Not so good," Eve whispered, and flowed into his arms like water through a broken dam. "Oh God. Oh God, Michael, it all went wrong, it's all wrong - "

He sighed and wrapped his arms around her, and rested his golden head next to her dark one. "I should have come with you. I should have made you get in the damn car. I was going to, but - things happened, I had to take care of it at the party. I never thought you'd try to walk home." He paused, and when he finally went on, his voice was thick with pain. "It's my fault."

"Now we're playing the blame game," Shane sighed, "Great".****

"It's nobody's fault," Claire said. "You know you can't make Shane do something he doesn't want to do. Or Eve, for that matter. Or me." She put a hand hesitantly Michael's arm. "You didn't kill that girl, did you?"

"No," he said. "I found her when I was searching for Jason. I was trying to find him and get him out of the party. He was probably already gone by then."

"Wouldn't surprise me," Shane muttered.****

"Then who - "

"That's the question that I doubt you will get an answer to, my dear," Myrnin said.

"Sadly your right," Claire nodded.****

Michael looked up, and his blue eyes were fiercely bright. "That's what I had to take care of. There were vampires there, hunting. I had to stop it."

"Now who sounds tough?" Eve shook her head.****

One of the nurses passing by slowed, watching Michael and Eve. Her eyes narrowed, and she stopped to stare. She muttered something, then walked on.

"Why do I have the feeling that it was nothing good that she said?" Shane asked.

"Do you really want an answer to that?" Claire asked.

"I'll find out soon enough," Shane shrugged.****

Michael turned to the nurse, who was already halfway down the hall. "Excuse me," he said. "What did you say?"

The nurse stopped dead in her tracks and turned to face him. "I didn't say anything. Sir." That last word sounded sharp enough to cut.

"I think you did," Michael said. "You called her a fang-banger."

"Disgusting term," Oliver growled, glaring at the book.

"I don't often say this but I agree with Oliver," Myrnin admitted, grimacing.****

The nurse smiled coldly. "If I muttered something under my breath, sir, that shouldn't concern you. You and your - girlfriend - ought to do your business in the waiting room. Or the blood bank."

"Oh, she didn't just say what I think she said," Eve said.

"You were there, you already know what she said," Claire gave her an odd look.

"Just adding more drama to it, Claire," Eve shrugged.****

Michael's hands curled into fists, and his face went tight with rage. "It's not like that."

The nurse - her nametag said her name was Christine Fenton, R.N. -outright sneered at him. "Yeah, it never is. It's always different, right? You're just misunderstood. You want to hurt me, go ahead and try. I'm not afraid of you. Any of you."

"She's got guts I'll give her that," Shane nodded, earning looks from everyone, "I didn't mean it like that. Can't a person make a simple remark without getting glared at?"

"Shane's...Shane," Claire shrugged, "Eve, keep reading".

Eve gave Shane another look before going back to the book.****

"Good," Michael said. "You shouldn't be afraid of me because I'm a vampire. You ought to be scared because you just trash-talked my girlfriend to her face."

Nurse Fenton flipped him off and kept walking.

"Charming woman," Myrnin shook his head.****

"Wow," Eve said. She almost sounded like herself again, as if having somebody diss her had helped, like a slap in the face. 

"It really did help," Eve nodded.

**"And people treated me bad when I dated Bobby Fee. Well, at least he was breathing. Mouth-breathing, yeah, but - "**

"I still can't believe you went out with that guy," Shane shook his head.

"Neither can I," Eve nodded****

Michael put his arm around her, still staring after the nurse. He had a frown on his face, but he forced it off to smile at Eve and plant a kiss on her forehead.

"You need some rest. Let's go back to the waiting room," he said. "I promise not to embarrass you anymore." He guided her that direction, and threw a look back. "Claire? You coming?"

She nodded absently, but her mind was somewhere else, trying to sort through data. Fenton.

"Oh no, here comes Claire's super brain," Eve groaned.

"I'm not that bad," Claire said.

"Sorry sweetie, but you really are," Eve told her.

**She'd seen that name before, hadn't she? Not the nurse, though, she'd never met her before and now really didn't look forward to ever seeing her again.**

"Why do I have the feeling that, that woman will be impotent later?" Claire's dad sighed.

"Because it's me," Claire shrugged.****

Claire realized she was standing alone in the hallway, and shivered. While this was a modern building, not nearly as nasty as the old, falling-to-ruins abandoned hospital where she and Shane had been chased for their lives, it still brought the creepy. 

"I think that's just hospital in general," Claire said.

"I hate having to them," Eve nodded.

**She threw one last, aching glance at the frosted glass doors that read SURGICAL AREA - ADMITTANCE TO AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY. She couldn't see anything beyond except vague moving shadows.**

"Which is probably for the best," Claire's mum said.****

She followed Michael back to the waiting room. Richard Morrell was gone, which was good, and Claire sat in silence, rubbing her hands together, still feeling the phantom slickness of Shane's blood on her skin.

"Lovely," Shane grimaced.

"I wouldn't say that," Claire shrived.****

"Hey," Michael said. She didn't know how much time had passed, just that she was stiff and sore and tense. She looked up into his crystal-blue eyes, and saw strength and kindness, but just a little bit of a glitter that didn't seem ... natural. 

"He is a vampire," Eve said.

"I was still getting used to that at that stage," Claire shrugged.

**"Rest. I can almost hear the gears grinding in your head." Eve was asleep in his lap, curled up like a cat. He was stroking her dark hair. **

"Great, one moment I'm a Hollywood starlet and the next I'm a cat," Eve said.

Michael leaned over to her and whispered something in her ear; Eve blushed and smiled at him.

"Can we get back to the book?" Claire asked after a moment, "I don't think Oliver, Myrnin, and Amelie are going to last much longer".

Eve and Michael glanced at said vampires to see them either looking sick or giving them dark looks, "Right," Eve muttered, going back to the book, "I'll just read..."

**"Here," he said. "Lean in." And he put his arm around Claire, and she leaned, and despite everything that had happened she felt warm and safe.**

It all fell in on her then, all the fear and the pain and the fact that Shane had gotten shot, right in front of her, and she didn't know how to deal with that, didn't know how to feel or what to say or do and it was all just ...

"Oh, my poor sweetheart," Claire's mum said in that motherly tone, making Claire blush.

"I'm fine now, mum," Claire tried, "Besides, it's not as if I didn't have Michael or Eve with me".

"Nothing can replaces a mother, Claire," Claire's father said as Claire was pulled into a hug by her mother.

"I know, daddy," Claire sighed.****

She turned her face into Michael's blue silk shirt and cried

"Silk and tears don't mixes, my dear," Myrnin remarked.

"And that's exactly the thing I was concerned about at the time," Claire rolled her eyes.

**Silent heaving sobs that tore up out of her guts in painful jerks. Michael's hand cradled her head, and he let her cry.**

"I could hardly make you stop, could I?" Michael shook his head.****

She felt him press his cool lips to her temple when she finally relaxed against him, and then she just slid away, into the dark.

Claire fought her way, panicked, out of a nightmare, and into another one. Hospital. Shane. Surgery.

"Yeah, you didn't look as if you were having the nicest dreams," Eve nodded.****

Eve was shaking her with both hands on her shoulders, babbling at her, and she couldn't follow the words, but the words didn't matter at first.

Eve was smiling.

"You should have seen the look on your face," Eve shook her head; "You really did look half asleep".

"Probably because I was," Claire said.****

"He's okay," Claire said in a whisper, then louder. "He's okay!"

"Yeah," Eve said, the words tumbling out in a confusing bright flood, way too fast. "He's out of surgery, it was touch and go, he had a lot of internal bleeding, he's going to be in ICU for a few days before they let him come home, and he'll have a temporary bracelet, you know, the plastic kind?"

"Don't you always get them?" Claire's parent's frowned.****

Claire tried to literally shake the sleepy fog out of her head. "Plastic - wait, don't you always get one of those in the hospital? Like an ID tag?"

"These books really remained you of how little Claire knew about Morganville," Eve said.

"Well, I had you guys to help me with all of that," Claire shrugged.****

"Do you? Really? How weird. Oh. Well, in Morganville you leave it on when you leave, and it protects you for up to a month after surgery. Kind of like a temporary vampire restraining order." Eve actually bounced up and down. "He's going to be okay, oh my God, he's going to be okay!"

Claire scrambled out of her seat, grabbed Eve's arms, and the two of them bounced together up and down, then fell into a hug and squealed.

"You should have seen the look a nurse walking by gave you," Michael laughed.

"Can you blame us for being happy?" Claire questioned.

"Right, sorry," Michael held his hands up.

"It's nice to know that you guys were happy, anyway," Shane remarked.

"Of course we were," Claire said.****

"I'll just - let you guys do that," Michael said. He was sitting in the chairs watching, but he was smiling. He looked tired.

"I didn't get much sleep," Michael shrugged, "Couldn't with all the noises going on around the place".

"Hospitals can be loud even without super, vampire hearing," Eve nodded.****

"What time is it?" Claire asked.

"Late. Early." Eve checked her skull watch. 

"I miss that watch," Eve remarked, "I broke it".

"It's not like it coast you a lot," Michael pointed out, "It was only ten dollars".

"I still miss it".

**"About six in the morning. Michael, you should get home, it'll be dawn soon. I'll stay here with Claire."**

"You should all go home," Claire's mother said.

"We work better when were together," Claire shrugged, "Even if were just sitting in a waiting room".****

"We should all go home," Michael said. "He's not going to wake up for hours yet. You could change clothes."

"Best idea I had heard all night," Eve said.

"Yeah," Claire agreed.****

Claire looked down at herself, and grimaced tiredly. "Yeah, I could," she admitted. Shane's blood had soaked into her patterned tights, and she thought Michael could probably smell it. 

"You're not wrong," Michael grimaced, "But at least I don't have to breathe as much".

"That is a bones," Claire nodded.

**She could even smell it, a musty, rotten odor that made her gag. **

"Humans," Myrnin shook his head.

**"Eve? You want to go too?"**

Eve nodded. The three of them walked out of the waiting room and down the long, empty hallway toward the elevators. They passed the front desk, where Nurse Fenton glared at them.

"Such a sweet woman," Eve rolled her eyes.

**When Claire looked back, as they waited for the elevator, Nurse Fenton was dialling the phone.**

"I wonder who she's calling," Claire's dad said thoughtfully.

"No one nice," Claire said.****

"Why do I know that name?" she asked, and then realized, duh, she was with two Morganville natives. 

"A little slow, aren't we?" Myrnin raised his eyebrows at her.

"I did just spend half a night sleeping in a waiting room," Claire shrugged.

**"Fenton? You guys know anything about her?"**

The elevator arrived. Eve stepped into the elevator and pushed the button for the lobby, and she and Michael looked at each other for a second.

"I hate it when you have silent talk like that," Claire sighed, "It's really annoying".

"Don't watch, then," Eve shrugged.****

"The family's been here for generations," Michael said. "Nurse Charming out there's a new arrival. She came to TPU for school, married into the family."

"I bet she was happy when she found what she had just married into," Shane remarked.

"I sort f feel sorry for her," Claire said making everyone look at her, "I mean, she probably didn't have a clue about what this towns really like and her husband probably never told her so in a way, she was forced in to it".

"Right," Eve shook her head.****

"You met her husband," Eve said. "Officer Fenton, Brad Fenton. He's the one who - "

"The one who showed up when Sam was attacked," Claire blurted. "Of course! I forgot his name." Why did that still leave her vaguely uneasy? 

"Maybe because it's Morganville," Shane suggested, "Everything about this town should make you uneasy".

"No, that's not it," Claire shook her head.

**She couldn't remember anything that Officer Fenton had done that had made her think he was anti-vamp; he'd acted quickly enough when Sam was in trouble. **

"Yeah, but there were people around, other police," Eve pointed out, "I wouldn't be surprised if he only did it because he knew he was being watched".

"Everyone in this towns being watched, Eve," Shane said, giving the vampire's dirty looks.

**Not like his wife, who clearly wasn't as open-minded.**

"Clearly," Eve frowned.****

She worried about it for a while, but couldn't see any real connection, and there were other things to think about. After all, Shane was okay, and that was all that mattered.

A shower helped, but it didn't banish the dull ache between Claire's eyes, or the strange gray cast the world had taken on. 

"You're just tired," Claire's mum said, "A few hours sleep and you'll be feeling better".

"Probably but I couldn't sleep," Claire shook her head, "I really needed to get back to the hospitable".

"You should still sleep," Claire's parents frowned.

**Exhaustion, she guessed, and stress. Nothing looked quite right. She changed clothes, grabbed her backpack, and went back to the hospital - this time, taking a cab, despite it being broad daylight **

"Good idea," Shane nodded, "Who known's what might have happened if you hadn't".

"I think I would have been alright," Claire shrugged, "But I knew that it was better to be safe than sorry".

"Finely Claire is being smart about living in Morganville," Eve remarked.

**To wait for visiting hours to start in ICU. No sign of Jason, but then, she hadn't expected him to be that obvious. Or that stupid. He'd managed to get away with it this long.**

But then again ... He really hadn't struck her as all that far-thinking, either. 

"And he is on drugs and who knows what else," Eve nodded.

"That can't help him become more...sane," Shane added.

**More of a want-take-have kind of guy. So what did that mean? Was Eve right? Was this a giant official cover-up, and Jason had been given free rein to run around town raping and killing and shooting as the mood moved him? She shuddered to think.**

"I know the feeling," Eve nodded, shriving herself.****

Nurse Fenton was, mercifully, off duty when Claire arrived. She checked in with the younger, nicer lady at the desk, whose name was Helen Porter, and went to find the least uncomfortable chair in the waiting area. The building wasn't completely lame; there were laptop connections and desks, and she set herself up there. The wireless was crap, but there was a LAN connection, and that worked fine.

"That should help to take your mind of things," Claire's****

Of course, the filters restricted where she could go on the internet, and she quickly grew frustrated trying to find out what was happening in the world outside of Morganville ... more of the same, she guessed. War, crime, death, atrocity. Sometimes it hardly seemed that vampires were the bad guys, given the things people did to each other without the excuse of needing a pint of O neg to get through the day.

Shane opened his mouth to say something but Claire quickly covered it, giving him a look.

"Not a word, Shane," Claire sighed, taking her hand away.****

She wondered if the vampires had made any headway tracking down who could have staked Sam. Surely they'd found out something. Then again, they hadn't had a lot of luck cornering Shane's dad, either ...

Her laptop connection stopped working, right in the middle of an email to her parents. 

"I hate it when that happens," Eve remarked.

**She'd been avoiding making the call, because there was this dangerous temptation to start spilling out her hurt and fear and look for comfort - after all, wasn't that what parents were for? -but if she did, they'd either come running to town, which would be bad, or they'd try to pull her out of school again, which would definitely be worse. Worse in every way.**

"And extremely dangers," Claire sighed.****

Still, she knew she was overdue to talk to her mom, and the longer she put it off, the more stress it was going to be for both of them.

"Very true," Claire nodded.****

Claire logged off the laptop, packed it, and opened up her new cool phone. It glowed with a pale blue light when she dialled the number, and she heard faint clicking. That probably meant the call was being recorded, or at least monitored.

"All phone calls are monitored and recorded," Myrnin said.

"Not to mention that the post is checked," Claire added.

**More reason to be careful about what she said ...**

"You get used to thinking before you talk to people not in the know," Eve shrugged.****

Mom answered the phone on the third ring. "Hello?"

"Hi!" Claire winced at the artificial cheeriness of her tone. Why couldn't she sound natural? 

"You're just stressed, dear," Claire's mother said, "But I did notice that you didn't sound quite yourself".

"Why didn't you say anything?" Claire frowned.

"I just thought that you were stresses from school," Claire's mum shrugged.

**"Mom, it's Claire."**

"Oh, is it?" Eve faked looking surprised, "I thought it was Bob?"

"Who's Bob?" Michael asked, looking amused.

"Wouldn't you like to know".****

"Claire! Honey, I've been worried. You should have called days ago."

"I know, Mom, I'm sorry. I got busy. I got transferred into some advanced classes, they're really great but there's been a lot of homework and reading. I just forgot."

"Not to mention the outside school actives," Michael said.

"Well, I couldn't say that would I?" Claire shrugged.****

"Well," her mother said. "I'm glad to hear that those teachers are recognizing that you need special attention. I was a little worried when you told me the classes were so easy. You like challenges, I know that."

"Don't we know it," Shane shook his head.****

Oh, I'm challenged now, Claire thought. Between the classes and Myrnin, being stalked by Jason and being terrified for Shane 

"I don't think that was the sort of challenge she was talking about, Claire," Eve pointed out.

**"Yeah, I do," she said. "So I guess this is all good."**

"What else? How are your friends? That nice Michael, is he still playing his guitar?" Mom asked it as if it was a silly little hobby that he'd give up eventually.

"Yes, Mom, he's a musician. He's still playing. In fact, he was playing in the University Center the other day. He got quite a crowd."

"Well, fine. I hope he's not playing in some of those clubs, though. That gets dangerous."

"No one with half a brain would go anywhere near one of those clubs," Michael shook his head, "Defiantly not a place to go after dark or not".****

There was more of that, the danger talk, and Claire worried that her mother was, if not remembering exactly, at least remembering something. Why would she be so fixated on how dangerous things could be?

"Maybe because she's had a little Bishop whispering in her ear," Eve muttered.

"Little?" Shane raised his eyebrows, "I don't think that's the word I would have used".****

"Mom, you're overreacting," Claire finally said. "Honest, everything's fine here."

"Lie's," Shane said.

"I couldn't tell her the truth," Claire shrugged.****

"Well, you started out this semester in the emergency room, Claire, you can't really blame me for worrying. You're very young to be out on your own, and not even in the dorm ..."

"I'm safer out of the dorm then in it," Claire said.

"Even with the vampires," Eve nodded.****

"I told you about the problems with the dorm," Claire said.

"Yes, I know, the girls weren't very nice - "

"Not very nice? Mom! They threw me down the stairs!"

Claire's mum shook her head, "I was very blind, wasn't I?"

"A little," Claire nodded.****

"I'm sure that was an accident."

It hadn't been, but there was something about her mother that wasn't going to accept that, not really. For all her fluttering and worrying, she didn't want to believe that something really could be badly wrong.

"That's mother's for you," Eve muttered to Claire who nodded****

"Yeah," Claire sighed. "Probably. Anyway, the house is great. I really like it there."

"And Michael has our numbers? In case there's any problem?"

"This is Morganville, there's always problem's," Shane said.

"Yeah, I'm sure that would have helped," Claire said.****

"Yes, Mom, everybody's got the numbers. Oh, speaking of that, here's my new cell phone - " She rattled off the digits, twice, and made her mother read them back. "It's got better reception than the old one, so you can get me a lot easier, okay?"

"How long did you have that phone before it was destroyed?" Eve asked Claire.

"Not very long," she sighed.****

"Claire," her mother said. "Are you sure you're all right?"

"You did sound quite odd," Claire's mother sighed.****

"Yes. I'm fine."

"I don't want to pry, but that boy, the one in the house - not Michael, but - "

"Shane."

"Yes, Shane. I think you should keep your distance from him, honey. He's old for you, and he seems pretty sure of himself."

"Yes, and double yes," Eve ticked her fingers off, "All very true and correct".

"Bit me," Shane said.

"Careful, Collins, someone might take that seriously one day," Oliver said.

"And I'm sure you've been counting the seconds," Shane glared at him.

"Not again," Claire sighed, "Eve, just read".****

She did not want to get into the subject of Shane. She'd nearly stumbled over saying his name, it hurt so bad. She wanted to talk to her mother the way she'd used to. They'd talked about everything, once, but there was no way she could really talk about Morganville with her family.

And that meant, there was no way she could talk about anything at all.

"Well, you could sort of tell the truth," Shane said, sounding thoughtful, "If you were really sneaky about it you could".

"Not about this I couldn't," Claire shook her head.****

"I'll be careful," she managed to say, and her attention was caught by the young nurse standing in the doorway of the waiting area, waving for her attention. "Oh - Mom, I have to go. Sorry. Somebody's waiting for me."

"That wasn't a lie," Claire pointed out.

"She has a point," Michael nodded.****

"All right, honey. We love you."

"Love you too." She hung up, slid the phone into her pocket, and grabbed her backpack.

"I love my backpack," Claire remarked.

"You look weird without it," Eve nodded.****

The nurse led her through another set of glass double doors into an area labeled ICU. "He's awake," she said. "You can't stay long, we want him to rest as much as possible, and I can already tell he's going to be a difficult patient." 

"I'm not that bad," Shane rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, you are," Michael said.

**She smiled at Claire, and winked. "See if you can sweeten him up a little for me. Make my life easier."**

"She never winked at me," Shane said, earning a hit on the back of his head from Claire.****

Claire nodded. She felt nervous and a little sick with the force of her need to see him, touch him 

"Not _too_ much touching I hope," Eve remarked, making Claire blush.

"Not like that," Claire blushed, avoiding looking at anyone.

**And at the same time, she dreaded it. She hated the thought of seeing him like this, and she didn't know what she was going to say. What did people say, when they were this scared of losing someone?**

"Everyone's different when it comes to things like this," Claire's mum said.****

He looked worse than she'd imagined, and she must have let it show.

"Never take up acting, Claire," Shane said.

"Thanks," Claire said.

**Shane grunted and closed his eyes for a few seconds. "Yeah, well, I'm not dead, that's something. One of those in the house is enough."**

"Can't help yourself," Eve shook her head.

**He looked awful - pale as, well, Michael. **

"I'm glad you didn't tell me that," Shane said, "I don't think I would have been able to handle it".

"That's what I thought," Claire nodded.

**The baseball bat had left him with Technicolor bruising**

"I love technicolour," Myrnin suddenly said.

"Not on human skin I hope," Claire said.

"No, that would be like eating a bruised apple," Myrnin shrugged, not taking any noticed of the looks he was not getting.

"Moving on," Eve quickly said, going back to the book.

**And he seemed fragile in ways Claire hadn't even thought about.**

"Mainly because I didn't want to," Claire shook her head.

**There were so many tubes and things. She sat down in the chair next to his raised bed and reached over the railing to touch him lightly on his scraped, bruised hand.**

"At least my arms weren't broken," Shane said.****

He turned it to twine their fingers together. "You're all right?"

"Yeah," she said. "Jason ran away, after."

"More like calmly walked away," Eve sighed.

"I didn't think it was a good idea to say it like that," Claire shrugged.

**Walked, really, but she wasn't going to say that. "Eve's okay, too. She was here while you were in surgery, she just went home to change clothes. She'll be back."**

"Yeah, I guess the diva dress might have been a little much around here." 

"Typical Shane," Eve rolled her eyes.

"That's me," Shane grinned.

**He opened his eyes and looked at her directly. "Claire. Really. You're okay?"**

"We wouldn't let her out of our sight if she wasn't," Michael said.

"Over proactive much," Eve said.

"You wouldn't either," Michael pointed out.

"Yeah, you're right," Eve agreed.****

"I'm fine," she said. "Except that I'm scared for you."

"I'm okay."

"Yeah, you're really okay," Eve shook her head.

"I was a lot better than before," Shane shrugged.****

"Except for the bullet wound and all the internal bleeding? Yeah, sure, tough guy." She heard her voice quiver, and knew she was about to cry. 

"I'm surprised at how long it took you before you did start crying again," Eve remarked.

"I think I got most of it out of my system the night before," Claire shrugged.

**She didn't want to.**

"No one wants to, dear," Claire's mum said, "But sometimes it makes you feel better".

"Yeah," Claire nodded.

**He wanted to laugh it off, wanted to be tough, and she ought to let him, right?**

"Yes," Shane and Michael both nodded.

"Boys," Eve rolled her eyes.****

He tried to shrug, but it must have hurt, from the spasm that went across his face.

"It did," Shane admitted.

**One of the machines near Claire beeped, and he let out a slow sigh. "That's better. Man, they give you the good stuff in ICU. Remind me to always get seriously wounded from now on. That minor injury stuff isn't as much fun."**

"Even when you're in a hospital bed you still can't help yourself," Eve shook her head.

"Yep," Shane said.****

It was wearing him out to talk.

"Thanks for making me sound manly," Shane joked.

**Claire got up and leaned over to stroke her fingertips lightly over his lips. "Shhhh," she said. "Rest, okay? Save it for somebody who isn't me. It's okay to be scared. It's okay to be hurt, Shane. With me, it's okay."**

"What are we?" Eve asked.

"I didn't mean it like that," Claire sighed.****

For a second his eyes glittered with tears, and then the tears spilled over, threading wet trails into his hair.

"Not a word," Shane muttered at the looks he got from Oliver.

**"Damn," he whispered. "Sorry. I just - I felt it all going away, I felt you going away, I tried - I thought he was going to hurt you and there was nothing I could do about it - "**

"I know." She leaned forward and kissed him very lightly, careful of the bruises. "I know."

He cried a little,

Shane turned bright red, muttering under his breath while Oliver looked delighted.

"Oliver, wipe that look off your face or I'll wipe it off for you," Eve threaten.

"Oh, I'm terrified," Oliver rolled her eyes, going to say something else only to receive a cold look from Amelie, telling him to be quiet.

**And she stayed right where she was, his shield against the world, until it was over. Finally, he fell into a light sleep, and she felt a tap on her shoulder. **

"Please be a nurse or doctor," Claire's parents muttered.

"I don't think Jason would be stupid enough to try something in a hospital," Claire said.

"I don't know about that," Eve sighed.

**The nurse motioned for her to step out, and Claire carefully pulled her hand free of Shane's and followed.**

"Sorry," Helen said. "I'd like for him to sleep a while before we start with the poking and prodding. You can come back this afternoon, all right?"

"Sure. What time?"

Four o'clock. That left her the entire day to kill, and not the slightest idea what she ought to be doing with it. 

"Watch T.V?" Shane suggested, "Play a video game?"

"What about read a book?" Claire raised her eyebrows.

"Boring," Shane shrugged.

**She didn't have to see Myrnin; Amelie hadn't given her any other instructions to follow. It was Saturday, so she wasn't cutting any classes, and she didn't want to go back to the Glass House and just ... worry.**

Claire was still trying to decide what to do when she spotted a familiar, well-groomed figure standing outside of the hospital doors.

"Please don't be Monica, please don't be Monica..." Shane begged.****

What was Jennifer, one of Monica's regular clique, doing hanging around here?

"I don't think I want to know," Michael said.

"You're going to find out whether you like it or not, Michael," Eve pointed out.****

Waiting for Claire, apparently, because she hurried to catch up as Claire strode by, heading for the taxi stand. 

"Just what you needed, Claire," Eve said, "A new shadow".

"Lucky me," Claire said dryly.

**"Hey," she said, and tucked her glossy hair behind her ear. "So. How's Shane doing?"**

"As if she cares," Shane, Eve, and Michael rolled their eyes.****

"Like you care," Claire said.

"Okay, that was weird," Eve remarked.****

"Well, yeah. I don't. But Monica wants to know."

"I think I'm going to be sick," Shane shook his head, "****

"He's alive." That was no more than Monica could learn without her help, so it didn't really matter, and Claire didn't like having Jennifer this close. Monica was creepy, but at least she was Alpha Creepy. There was something pathetic and extra-weird about her two groupies.

"I know the feeling," Eve nodded, "They are super creepy".****

Jennifer kept pace with her.

"Claire what have I told you about picking up strays?" Eve said.

"It's not as if I asked to follow me," Claire pointed out.

**Claire stopped and turned to face her. They were halfway down the sidewalk, in the full glare of early-fall sunlight, which at least meant it wasn't too likely some vampire would be sneaking up on her while Jennifer kept her distracted. **

"I doubt any vampire would sink that low," Oliver remarked before glancing over to Myrning, "Even this fool wouldn't".

"How...nice of you, Oliver," Myrnin remarked, rolling his eyes.

"Please don't start fighting," Claire sighed, "It's giving me a headache".

**"Look," Claire said. "I don't want anything to do with you, or Monica, okay? I don't want to be friends. I don't want you sucking up to me just because I'm - somebody, or something."**

Jennifer didn't look like she wanted to be sucking up, either. 

"Then why is she hanging around you?" Shane frowned.

"You'll find out soon," Claire said.

**She looked as bitter and resentful as a glossy, entitled rich girl could look, in fact - which was a lot.**

"I don't know why your surprised, Claire," Eve said.

"I wasn't," Claire shrugged.

**"Dream on, loser. I don't care who your Patron is, you're never going to be anything more than jumped-up trailer trash with delusions. Friends? I wouldn't be friends with you if you were the last person breathing in this town."**

"Is that the best she can come up with?" Eve shook her head, "That's just sad".****

"Unless Monica said so," Claire said spitefully. "Fine, you don't want to exchange friendship rings. So why are you bothering me?"

"Good question," Michael said.****

Jennifer glared at her for a few seconds, stubborn and angry, and then looked away. "You're smart, right? Like, freak-smart?"

"There's nothing wrong with being smart," Myrnin frowned.

"To people like her it is," Claire shrugged.****

"What does that have to do with anything?"

"You placed out of the two classes we were in together. You must have aced the tests."

"Hang on, is she asking for help?" Eve raised her eyebrows, "I don't believe it".

"Yeah," Michael and Shane nodded.****

Claire nearly laughed out loud. "You want tutoring?"

"I would have laughed," Shane said.

"As if she would have asked you for anything, though," Eve pointed out.

"But if she had," Shane said.****

"No, idiot. I want test answers. Look, I can't bring home anything under a C, that's the rule, or my Patron cuts off my college. And I want my full four years, even if I never do anything with it in this lame-ass town." A muscle fluttered in Jennifer's jawline. "I don't get this economics crap. It's all math, Adam Smith, blah blah blah. What am I ever going to use it for, anyway?"

"Did she really just ask that?" Myrnin raised his eyebrows.

"You're the vampire, you tell us," Claire said.

"What is the world coming to?" Myrnin shook his head.****

She was asking for help.

"I still can't believe it," Eve remarked.

**Not in so many words, maybe, but that was what it was, and Claire was off balance for a few heartbeats. First Monica, now Jennifer? What next, a cookie bouquet from Oliver?**

"Oh, the horror!" Eve exclaimed dramatically.

"I agree," Myrnin nodded, earning a glare from Oliver.****

"I can't give you test answers," she said,

"I wouldn't even if I could," Claire shrugged.

**"I wouldn't even if I could." Claire took in a deep breath. "Look, I'm going to regret this, but if you really want help, I'll go over the notes with you. Once. And you pay me, too. Fifty dollars." Which was wildly out of line, but she didn't really care if Jennifer said no.**

"She'll just get daddy to pay for it," Shane rolled his eyes.****

Which Jennifer clearly thought about, hard, before giving her a single, abrupt nod.

"Common Grounds," she said. "Tomorrow, two o'clock," Which was pretty much the safest time to be out and about, providing they didn't stay too long. 

"That's the thing," Shane agreed.

**Claire wasn't wild about visiting Oliver's shop again, but she didn't suppose there were too many places in town that Jennifer would agree to go. Besides, it wasn't far from Claire's house.**

"That's a bonus," Eve nodded.****

"Two o'clock," Claire echoed, and wondered if they were supposed to shake hands or something. 

"I doubt it," Eve said.

**Not, obviously, because Jennifer flipped her hair and walked away, clearly glad to have it over with.**

"I was feeling the same thing," Claire nodded.

**She jumped into a black convertible and pulled away from the curb with a screech of tires.**

"Show off," Eve muttered.****

Leaving Claire to contemplate the afternoon sunlight and the odds of walking home through a Morganville where Jason was still on the loose.

"Hmm, sounds like fun," Myrnin remarked.****

She took out her cell phone and called the town's lone taxi driver, who told her he was off duty, and hung up on her.

"Anything to get out of work," Shane said.

"Who could blame him?" Eve shook her head.****

So she called Travis Lowe.

"I bet he wasn't pleased," Michael commented.

"You could say that," Claire nodded.****

Detective Lowe wasn't real happy to be the Claire Taxi Service.

"I wouldn't be either," Eve said.

"Thanks," Claire rolled her eyes.

**She could tell because he wasn't his usual self, not at all - he'd always been kind to her, and a little bit funny, but there wasn't any of that in the way he pulled his blue Ford to the curb and snapped, "Get in." She climbed in, and he was accelerating away even before she got strapped in. **

"Someone's in a hurry," Shane remarked.

"He is the police," Michael pointed out.

**"You do know I've got a real job, right?"**

"Sorry, sir," she said. The sir was automatic, a habit she couldn't seem to break no matter how hard she tried.

"You shouldn't try to break it, dear," Claire's mother frowned, "Good manners is a good thing".

"I know," Claire sighed.

**"I just didn't think I should be walking home, with Jason - "**

"Right thought, just wrong timing," he said, and his tone softened some. He looked tired and sallow, and there were dark bags under his eyes like he hadn't slept in days. 

"Basically he looked normal," Claire said.

"I feel sorry for him," Eve said, "Can you imagine what I would be like if I didn't get at least eight hours a night?"

"I don't want to," Michael said.

**He needed a shave and a shower. Probably the shower more than the shave. **

"Lovely," Eve grimaced.

**"How's Shane?"**

"Better," she said. "The nurse told me he was going to be okay, it's just going to take some time."

"Doesn't everything?" Shane remarked.****

"Good news. Could've gone the other way. Why'd you try to walk home like that?"

"Because it's Claire," Eve said.

"Yeah, thanks, Eve," Claire shook her head.****

She fidgeted a little in the seat. In contrast to the vampire cars, with their dark tinting, the glare inside of Lowe's car seemed way too bright. "Well, we tried getting a ride," she said. In retrospect, none of the explanations seemed all that good, really. She didn't mention that she'd tried both Lowe's phone, and Joe Hess's. No point in making him feeling guilty. Guiltier. "We thought with the three of us together ..."

"Yeah, good plan, if it had been any other kids. You guys, you're just trouble to the power of three,"

"Yeah, don't we know it," Eve nodded.

"We're not that bad," Shane said earning looks from everyone, "Okay, I take that back".

"**Which I'm no math whiz, but I'm betting that's a lot." His eyes were cold and distant, and she had the distinct feeling he wasn't really thinking about her at all. **

"He does seem to have quite a bit on his mind," Myrnin remarked.

"You'll find out soon," Claire said.

**"Listen, I've got to make a stop. I'm running late as it is. You stay in the car, okay? Just stay in the car. Do not get out."**

"How long did it take you before you got out?" Shane asked.

"I stayed there," Claire shook her head, "I do sometimes do what I'm told".****

She nodded. He turned some corners, into a residential area of Morganville she didn't recognize. It was run down and faded, with leaning fences that were marked with sun-bleached gang sign. 

"So, just another street around town," Shane said.

"Pretty much," Claire nodded.

**The houses weren't much better. Most of them just had sheets tacked up in the windows instead of real curtains.**

"Nice place," Shane remarked.****

He parked in front of one, got out, and said, "Windows up. Lock the doors."

"All ways a good idea even in the daylight," Eve said.

"I don't think it has anything to do with vampires," Michael remarked.****

She followed his orders and watched him go up the narrow, cracked sidewalk to the front door. It opened on the second knock, but she couldn't see who was inside, and Lowe closed the door behind him.

"I really wish he hadn't," Claire said, "It would have made thing's easer".

"Or more dangers," Shane pointed out.****

Claire frowned and waited, wondering what he was doing - cop stuff, she guessed, but in Morganville that could be anything, from running errands for vampires to dog-catching.

"Something tells me it's neither," Shane said.

"Yeah," Eve and Michael nodded.****

He didn't come back. She checked her watch and found that more than ten minutes had passed.

"And I felt every second of it," Claire sighed.

"Sounds like waiting for the bell to go at the end of the day," Eve commented.

"I don't know about that," Claire shook her head.

**He'd ordered her to stay put, but for how long? **

"I would have thought that obvious," Oliver rolled his eyes, "Until he comes back".

"Where were you, Oliver?" Claire shook her head, "I could really have used your help".

Oliver's eyes flashed and he muttered something under his breath, glaring at her.

"Anyway..." Eve said, eyeing them both before going back to reading.

**She could have been home already if she'd been able to get the taxi, or even if she'd walked.**

"I hate it when that happens," Eve remarked.****

And it was getting hot in the car.

"I hate that even more," Shane said.****

Ten more minutes, and she started to feel anxious. The neighborhood seemed deserted - no people on the street, even in the bright sunlight. Even for Morganville, that didn't seem ... normal. She didn't know this area, hadn't been through it before, and she wondered what went on around here.

"Do you really want to know?" Michael raised his eyebrows at her.

"No, I take it back," Claire said.****

Before she could decide to do something really stupid, like investigating on her own, 

"Don't you dare," Claire's parents and Shane frowned at her.

"Don't worry I didn't get the chances," Claire shook her head.

**Detective Lowe came out of the house and got back in the car, after rapping on the window for her to unlock the door. He looked, if possible, even more tired. Depressed, almost.**

"I don't think I want to know what went on in that house," Eve remarked.

"Nothing good," Michael nodded.****

"What's wrong?" she asked. The sheets tacked up as curtains twitched in the window of the house, as if somebody was peering out at them.

"It wouldn't surprise me," Shane remarked.

**"Sir?"**

"Nice and polite," Claire's mother smiled.

"I don't think Lowe will like that, though," Eve said, "He doesn't sound like he's in the mood".****

"Quit calling me sir," Lowe snapped, and put the car in gear. "And it's none of your affair. Stay out of it."

"See?" Eve said.

"We get it, Eve," Michael said.****

There was blood on his hand. His knuckles were scraped.

"I hope he hurt whoever he punched," Shane remarked.

"What if you know them?" Claire asked.

"You have to admitted that most of the people I know are not really the nicest people," Shane shrugged.

**Claire pulled in a fast breath, her eyes widening as she noticed, and he sent her a narrow glance as the car accelerated away down the deserted street. "Were you in a fight?" she asked.**

"I would have thought that was obvious," Oliver remarked.

"Yes, thank you for your input," Myrnin shook his head.

"Not again," Claire sighed as they glared at each other, "Please, can't you kill each other after we finish the books?"

"I doubt it," Michael said as read started reading again.****

"What did I just tell you?" Detective Lowe had never been angry before, not with her, but she could tell he was being pushed pretty far. She nodded and turned face forward, trying to keep herself still.

"It was harder than I thought it would be," Claire said.

**It wasn't easy. She wanted to ask questions, a dozen of them. She wanted to ask him where Detective Hess had gone. She wanted to find out who lived in that house, and why Lowe had gone there. Who he'd hit, to scrape up his knuckles like that.**

And why he was so desperately angry that he'd snap at her.

"Sometimes you should just keep your mouth shut and not ask," Shane said.

"I did," Claire said, "****

Lowe didn't enlighten her about any of it. He pulled the car to a stop with an abrupt jerk of brakes, and Claire blinked and realized that she was home. "You need another ride, call a taxi," Lowe said. "I'm on police business the rest of the day."

"Well, that's one way of telling you to go away," Eve said.****

She climbed out and tried to thank him, but he wasn't listening. He was already flipping open his cell phone and dialling one-handed as he put the car in gear with the other.

"He should pay more attain," Claire's mum shook her head.

"He's probably used to driving like that," Claire shrugged.

"That doesn't make it right, Claire," Claire's dad frowned.

**She barely got the door shut before he pulled away from the curb.**

"Someone's in a hurry," Eve remarked.

"It's Morganville," Shane shrugged.****

"Bye," she said softly, to the empty air, and then shrugged and went inside.

Michael was sitting in the living room, playing guitar. He looked up and nodded at her when she came in. "Eve went to the hospital," he said. "She must have just missed you."

Claire sighed and slumped down on the couch. "They won't let her in. Visiting hours are over."

"They would if they know what's good for them," Michael remarked.

"I'm not that bad," Eve said.

"Yes you are," Shane nodded, "You can be scary when you want to be".

**She yawned and curled up, tucking her feet under her. She ached all over, and everything seemed too bright, and not quite right. "Michael?"**

"Yeah?" He was working out a chord progression, focused on the music; his response didn't mean he was listening, really.

"I hate it when you do that," Eve said.

"I don't do it that much," Michael said.****

"Shouldn't you be asleep? I mean, don't vampires - ?"

"Sleep during the day," Myrnin finished, "Some do but I tend to sleep only when I need to".

"I noticed," Claire said.****

He was listening after all. "Sleep during the day? Yeah, mostly. But I - couldn't. I keep thinking ..." The chord progression turned minor, then wrong, and he grimaced. 

"I didn't know that you knew how to read music," Michael said.

"I can't but I can tell the deferent's," Claire said.

**"I keep thinking that I should have fixed this crap with Shane by now. I don't know if he's going to get over it, not really. Not in the ways that count. And I hate it. I can't stop thinking - I don't want him doing this stuff. Not without me watching his back."**

"Thanks bro," Shane said.****

Claire leaned her head against the battered black pillow on the corner of the couch.

"We really should get some new pillows around here," Eve said.

"Hey, I love that pillow," Shane said.

"That's why we need a new one," Eve said.

**It smelled like spilled Coke, a little, but mostly it smelled like Shane, and she gladly turned her face into it and took a deep breath.**

"Not a word," Claire said as she blushed slightly.

**It made it seem like he was here, at least for a second.**

"You do seem to do that often," Myrnin remarked, thinking back to Claire wearing Shane's jacket.

"Don't ask," Claire said at the looks she got.****

"He wouldn't hate you so bad if he didn't love you, at least a little bit," she said. "We'll be okay. We're going to stay together, right? The four of us?"

"You don't even have to ask," Eve said.****

Michael looked up, and for a second she wasn't sure what he was going to say, but then he smiled a little and said, "Yeah. We'll stay together. No matter what."

"Why does that sound like a lie?" Eve asked.

"I thought the same thing," Claire said.****

It felt like a lie, and she wished he hadn't said it.

"Sorry but no one really knows what was going to happen," Michael sighed.

"I know, Michael," Claire said, "Its fine".****

She fell asleep, listening to him compose a new song, and dreamed about vibrating strings and doorways that led nowhere, and everywhere. 

"My dreams really are weird," Claire said.

"Don't need to tell me," Eve said.

**Someone was watching her, she could feel it, and it wasn't Michael, it wasn't warm and kind, it wasn't safe, she wasn't safe, and there was something wrong, wrong, wrong ...**

"Oh no," Claire's parents said.

"Don't worry," Claire said but they didn't seem to hear.****

She nearly fell off the couch, she jerked so hard. 

"I know I shouldn't find that funny but I do," Eve commented.

"Nice to know you can find things like this funny, Eve," Claire said.

**Michael wasn't there, and his guitar was in the case on the table. Claire squinted at the clock. It was nearly two o'clock, and she'd slept through lunch, but it wasn't hunger that had woken her up. **

"You shouldn't skip lunch," Claire's mum said.

"I can always make something later," Claire shrugged.

**She'd heard something.**

"Please be something good," Shane said, "Like...like I don't know".

"I don't think anyone else does either," Eve shook her head at him.****

It came again, a thumping knock on the front door. 

"Not exactly what I was thinking but it will work," Shane said.

"Depending who's on the other side," Michael said.

**She yawned and pushed back the blanket that Michael had draped over her, and padded to the door still trying to rub the sleep out of her eyes.**

She had to stand on tiptoes at the peephole to see out. 

"That's just sad," Michael commented.

"Maybe we should put something there so she can get a step up," Eve said, "You know the ones for little kids".

"Thanks Eve," Claire rolled her eyes, "Way to make me feel like an adult".

**Some guy, nobody that clicked any immediate recognition - not Jason, at least.**

"Good," Claire's parents said.

**That was good. Claire looked over her shoulder, but there was no sign Michael had heard. She had no idea where he'd gone.**

"Kitchen," Michael said.****

She opened the door. The guy standing outside looked up and held out a padded mailer with stickers on it; she took it and read her own name on it. "Oh," she said, preoccupied. "Thanks."

"No problem, Claire," he said. "Be seeing you."

"Creepy," Eve commented.

"Probably got it off a movie," Shane said.****

There was something way too familiar about the way he said it.

"I don't know what's more creepy now," Eve said.

"I think it was all creepy," Claire said.

**She jerked her head up, staring at him, but she still didn't know him. He was just ... normal. Average height, average weight, average everything. **

"I think this is one of the only times you have never checked a guy out before," Eve said thoughtfully, "I mean you checked Myrnin out...just wrong".

"Can we please not talk about that?" Claire sighed as Myrnin looked smug and Shane glared at him, "It's bad enough that you had to hear that once let alone talk about it now".

"No can do, Claire," Eve said, "I'm never going to let you forget".

**There was a silver bracelet on his wrist, so he was human, not vampire.**

"He wouldn't be standing in the sunlight if he was a vamp," Eve remarked.****

"Do I know you?" she asked. He tilted his head a little, but didn't answer. He just turned and walked away down the sidewalk, toward the street. "Hey, wait! Who are you?"

"I doubt he will answer," Shane said.

"One day someone will," Claire shook her head.****

He waved and kept walking. She went a couple of steps outside into the early afternoon heat, frowning, but she'd left her shoes off and the concrete was blazing hot. 

"I did that once," Eve remarked, "I didn't make it very far".

**No way could she run after him in bare feet, she'd fry like bacon.**

"Don't say it Myrnin," Claire said as Myrnin opened his mouth.

"I was simply going to say..." Myrnin started but Claire coved his mouth.

"No, you weren't," Claire said.****

She retreated back into the cool darkness of the house, and sighed in relief at the feeling of cool wood under her soles. 

"You really should be more careful, dear," Claire's mum said.

"I will next time," Claire said.

**She looked down at the envelope in her hand and suddenly wanted to drop it and step away. **

"Scared of paper?" Shane said, "I know the feeling".

"More like what could possibly be inside," Claire said.

**She didn't know who this guy was, and it was really strange that he wouldn't answer her. And strange, in Morganville, was rarely going to be a good thing.**

"Morganville is strange full stop," Eve shrugged.****

She closed and locked the door, took a deep breath, and tore open the top of the envelope. No smell of blood or disgusting rotting things, which was a plus. 

"Especially when you live in Morganville," Claire remarked.

"Yeah," Eve nodded.

**She carefully squeezed the sides to open it up, and saw nothing in it but a note. She shook it out into her hand, and recognized the paper immediately **

"Not again," Shane groaned.

**Heavy, expensive paper, cream-colored, embossed with the same logo that was on her gold bracelet.**

It was a note from Amelie. Which meant the guy who'd dropped it off had to be somebody she trusted, at least that far.

"Or someone completely different," Claire said under her breath earning a look from Myrnin.****

"Everything okay?" Michael's voice from the end of the hall. Claire gasped, stuffed the paper back into the envelope, and turned to face him.

"Guilty much?" Eve remarked.****

"Sure," she said. "Just mail."

"Good stuff?"

"Doubt it," Eve remarked.****

"Don't know yet, I haven't read it. Probably junk."

"Or something else," Claire sighed.****

"Enjoy the fact that you don't have electricity, water, cable, internet and garbage to pay for," he said.

"I pay my way," Claire said, "So does Eve and Shane".

"Yeah but I'm the one using the money to pay," Michael shrugged.

**"Look, I'm going upstairs. Yell if you need anything. There's stuff in the fridge if you're hungry." A brief pause. "Don't open the pitcher in the back on the top shelf."**

"Michael, tell me you're not putting blood in our refrigerator."

"Were else is he supposed to keep it?" Myrnin asked.

"Somewhere other than were we keep our food," Claire shrugged, "But it's doesn't bother us to much anymore".****

"I told you not to open it. So you'll never know."

"You suck!" Of course he did, he was a vampire. "I mean, not in a good way, either!"

"There's a good way?" Shane asked, "Senses when?"

"I'm not even going to bother anserine that one," Eve said.****

"Eat something! I'm sleeping." And she heard his door shut, so she was effectively alone.

"And you call me dramatic," Eve said.

"That wasn't dramatic," Claire said, "That was just pointing out a fact".****

Claire fumbled out the letter and unfolded it. A smell of faint, dusty roses came from the paper, like it had been stored in a trunk with dried flowers. She wondered how old it was.

"Well, it is from the vampire part of town," Eve shrugged, "Who really knows? Other then the vampires that is".

**It was a short, simple note, but it made her whole body turn cold.**

"I don't know if I want to know," Claire's parents sighed.

"I think you're going to find out either way," Claire said.****

It read:

**I am displeased with your progress in your advanced studies. I suggest you spend additional time learning all you can. Time is growing short. I do not care how you arrange this, but you will be expected to demonstrate at least a journeyman understanding of what you are being taught within the next two days. You cannot involve Michael. He is not to be risked.**

"Nice to know that Claire can be 'risked,'" Shane glared at Amelie.

"Shane," Claire said in a warning tone at the look on Oliver and Amelie's faces, "Please don't start something. Not now".

"I would listen to the girl, boy," Oliver snapped.

"Yeah that helps," Claire sighed as she put a hand on Shane's arm to stop him from doing something stupid, "Please start reading, Eve".****

**Nothing else. Claire stared at the perfect handwriting for a few seconds, then folded the note up and put it back in the envelope. She still felt tired and hungry, but more than anything else, now she felt scared.**

"Anyone would, dear," Claire's mum said.****

Amelie wasn't happy.

"Not good," Shane said.****

That wasn't good.

"Great minds think alike," Shane said.

"I wouldn't say that," Myrnin said.

"Not again," Claire sighed, "Keep going, Eve before they start fighting again".****

Two days. And Michael could only go with her in the evenings ...

She couldn't wait.

"Yeah you could but you won't," Shane shook his head.

"I had to," Claire shrugged.****

Claire checked in her backpack. The red crystal shaker was still inside, safely zipped into a pocket.

"It's hardly going to walk away," Oliver rolled his eyes.

"No but someone could have stolen it," Claire pointed out.

"Doubtful," Oliver said, "You never let that bag out of your sight and no vampire would have any interested in something that looks like drugs".

"They might," Shane argued.

"Vampire body's brake down things like that faster than humans," Claire explained, "It would already be out of there system by the time it would reach a high in a human. That's why Myrnin had to have such a strong douse of crystals and why his high was shorter than mine".

"That makes sense," Eve nodded.****

If she took Michael's car 

"And crashed into a street light drew to the fact that she couldn't see outside," Myrnin said.

"Thanks for pointing that out Myrnin but I already worked that out," Claire said.

**No, she couldn't. She'd never be able to see through the tinting, even if she felt confident in her ability to drive it. **

"I really should practise," Claire said.

"Not in my baby you're not," Eve said.

"That didn't even entire my head," Claire said.

**And Detective Lowe wasn't going to give her a ride. She could try Detective Hess, but Lowe's attitude had made her gun-shy.**

Still, she couldn't just go out alone.

"At least you're not going to try and walk it," Shane muttered.****

With a sigh, she called Eddie, the taxi driver.

"He won't like this," Eve said.

"He really didn't," Claire agreed.****

"What?" he snapped. "Don't I get a day off? What is it with you?"

"I could ask the same thing about you," Myrnin said.

"I don't know if you're the best person to be asking that question, Myrnin," Claire said.****

"Eddie, I'm sorry, I'm really sorry. I need a favour." Claire hastily checked her wallet. "Um, it's a short trip; I'll pay you double, okay? Please?"

"Double? I don't take checks."

"No because he likes to count the money first," Shane shook his head, "Usually twice but the last time I got a cab he counted it four times".

"Well, maybe you shouldn't have made all of those jokes about faking money," Eve rolled her eyes.

"I wasn't being serious," Shane said.****

"I know that. Cash."

"I don't wait. I pick up, I drop off, I leave."

"Is he really going to turn down double money?" Eve raised her eyebrows.

"Morganville," Michael said.****

"Eddie! Double! Do you want it or not?"

"Keep your panties on".

"That's a fine way to talk to your clients," Claire's dad remarked.

"He doesn't have to worry about not getting anyone to drive around," Claire said, "He's the only one with a cab the only thing he has to be concerned about it making the vampires angry".

**What's the address?"**

"Michael Glass's house."

"You could have said Glass House," Eve said, "Everyone knows were Glass House is".

"Just making sure," Claire shrugged.****

Eddie heaved a sigh so heavy it sounded like a temporary hurricane. 

"It always annoys me when people do that," Eve remarked as she gave Shane a look, "Anything to add, Collins?"

"Nothing that you wouldn't hit me for," Shane said.

**"You again. Okay, I come. But I swear, last time. No more Saturdays, yes?"**

"Yes! Yes, okay. Just this time."

"He can't do that," Claire's mother frowned, "If he is the only person in town with a taxi".

"It's a different world in Morganville," Claire said.****

Eddie hung up on her. Claire bit her lip, slipped the note from Amelie into her bag, and hoped Michael had been serious about going to bed. Because if he'd eavesdropped on her, even by accident, she was going to have a lot of explaining to do.

"Don't worry I was already in bed," Michael shrugged.

"You could still have heard through the floor," Claire pointed out.

"My hearings not that good yet," Michael corrected, "If I was the same age as Myrnin or Oliver then I could but I'm still too young".

"Thanks goodness for that," Eve said, "It's hard enough keeping things from you three let alone vampire hearing".****

It took five minutes for Eddie to arrive. She waited on the sidewalk, and jumped in the back of the battered old cab - barely yellow, after so much sun exposure 

"You might want to look into getting a new cab," Eve said to the vampires.

"There are more important things to be concerned about Mrs Rosser," Amelie said.

Eve went to open her mouth but Michael stopped her, "Best to leave it there, Eve".

**And handed Eddie all the cash she had. He counted it. Twice.**

"Trusting," Myrnin commented.

"Because you're so much better," Eve shook her head.

"He could be worse," Claire said, "I don't want to even think about it".****

Then he grunted and flipped the handle on the taxi meter. "Address?"

"Katherine Day's house." One thing Claire had learned about riding with Eddie - you didn't need numbers, only names. 

"Morganville is a pretty small town," Eve said.

"But at the same time huge," Claire agreed.

**He knew everybody, and he knew where everybody lived. All the natives, anyway. The students, he just dropped on campus and forgot.**

"How could someone do that so easily?" Claire's mum shook her head.

"You grow up here and learn," Shane said darkly.****

Eddie threw an arm over the back of his seat and frowned at her. He was a big guy, with a lot of wild dark hair, including a beard. She could barely see his eyes when he frowned, which was pretty much always. 

"I don't think I have ever seen him smile before," Eve said thoughtfully.

"Same," Michael nodded.

**"The Day House. You're sure."**

"She wouldn't be asking if she wasn't," Shane remarked, "But I still think you're insane to be going".

"I didn't have much choice," Claire shrugged.****

"I'm sure."

"Told you I'm not staying, right?"

"He's probably the only taxi driver to ever turn down money for just taking someone to a street," Michael shook his head.

"It is Morganville," Shane pointed out, "Anything can happen".****

"Eddie, please!"

"Your funeral," he said, and hit the gas hard enough to press her back into the cushions.

"That's a comfort," Eve said as she closed the book, "Whose turn is it?"

"Mine," Shane said taking the book.

"I love reading about myself," Myrnin said.

"Then why don't you read the next chapter then?" Shane snapped.

"I like listening not reading it," Myrnin corrected.

"But you just said..." but Shane trailed off at the look Claire sent him a look, "Right, **chapter 12**".

_**There's only a few chapters left on this story and then were onto Feast of fools. Tell me what you thought, please review :)**_

_**To Guest: I didn't know that there was a version of the books where Shane was stabbed not shot. Must be something to do with different countries. Thanks for reviewing.**_

_**To Sobia: I'm sorry for taking so long on this chapter but I had to rewrite most of it because it just didn't seem right, not to forget writing my other stories but I'm on holiday's now so I have time to write more often. Thanks for reviewing.**_


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